^K^^mL, 





Book. V^ -^ ,, 



Copyright)^". 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSre 



\ 



How lo Become a Magician 



CONTAINING' 



A GRAND ASSORTMENT 

OP 

Magical Illusions 

AS PERFORMED BY THE LEADING MAGICIANS AND WIZARDS 

OF THE DAY. 



ALSO CONTAINING 

TRICKS WITH CARDS 

MADE USE OF BY NOTED GAMBLERS. INCANTATIONS, CHARMS 

AND SPELLS PRACTICED BY ASTROLOGISTS AND 

FORTUNE-TELLERS BY THE USE OF 

CARDS, DICE AND DOMINOES. 



,^^ 






^^-JCP'^ WASHING- 



New York: 

FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher, 

34 AND 36 North Moore Street. 






Sutered aeoordmg to Ast of Oongress, in the year 1882, by 

FRANK TOUSEY, 

in the OfQce of the Librarian of Oongi«es8 at Washington, D. C. 



How to Become a Magician. 



INCLUDING SLEIGHT OF HAND WITH OBJECTS OR 
CARDS, WITH AND WITHOUT APPARATUS. 

From the very early ages of the world the art of legerde- 
main, commonly called conjuring, has been known and 
practiced. In some of the old heathen ceremonies the priests 
made use of skillful deceptions, in order to impose upon the 
people; and in ancient Egypt, in Greece, and in Rome, the 
worship of the gods was frequently associated with mere 
tricks, which were used for the purpose of obtaming an in- 
fluence by a pretense of extraordinary and supernatural 
powers. Among the Eastern nations juggling was a profes- 
sion, and to this day the jugglers of Hindustan and other 
Oriental nations are so skillful that they are able to deceive 
even the most acute observers. In our own country the 
juggler was a minstrel as well as a conjurer, a reac'er of the 
stars or astrologer, and at the same time a jester, a merry- 
andrew, and a teller of droll stories. These jongleurs traveled 
from place to place, and exhibited at fairs, feasts, and merry- 
makings, as well as in the houses of noblemen, where they • 
diverted the company in the great halls. In the fourteenth 
century they gave more attention to tricks and feats of skill, 
and became known as tregetours. The performances of some 
of these gentry were so marvelous, that the common people 
believed them to be the result of witchcraft, and classed the 
tregetour with the warlock and the sorcerer. Chaucer, who 
no doubt had frequently an opportunity of seeing the tricks 
exhibited by the tregetours of his time, says: ** There I sawe 
playenge jogelours, magyciens, tragetours, phetonysses, 
charmeresses, old witches, and sorceresses ;" and the old poet 
goes on to say of them, "Sometimes they will bring on the 
similitude of a ^m lion, or make flowers spring up as in a 
meadow; sometimes they cause a vine to flourish, bearing 
White and red grapes, or show a castle built with stone, ana 



4 HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 

when they please they cause the whole to disappear;*' and in 
another part of his works he says :— = 

"There saw I Coll Tregetour 
Upon a table of sycamour 
Play an uncouthe thynge to tell; 
I sawe hym cary a wyndemell 
Under a walnot shale."— -Zfowse of Fame, book ill. 

The learned monarch James I. was perfectly convmced that 
these and other inferior feats exhibited by the tregetours of 
his day could only be performed by diabolical agency. The 
profession had already fallen very low, and at the close of the 
reign of Queen Elizabeth the performers were ranked by the 
moral writers of thaftime not only with ruffians, blasphemers, 
thieves, and vagabonds, but also with Jews, Turks, heretics, 
pagans, and sorcerers; and in more modern times, by way of 
derision, the juggler was called a mocus-pocus, or hokus- 
pokus, a term applicable to a pickpocket or a common cheat. 

The following pages are not intended to make the young 
reader either a cheat or a trickster; there is nothing perhaps 
so utterly contemptible in every-day life as trickery and de- 
ceit, and we would caution our j^oung friends not to cultivate 
a love of deception, which is only allowable in such feats of 
amusement, because it is in fact not deception at all. when 
everybody expects to be puzzled, and is only left to find out 
the mystery the beat way he can. 

With this sage advice we shall present a collection of 
amusing conjuring tricks, premising that a considerable 
number of tricks usually embodied in this division will be 
found in that part of our work relating to Scientific Experi- 
ments and Amusements, as they more properly belong to 
"Natural Magic," and are to be referred to the various opera- 
tions of nature in the several departments of art, science, and 
philosophy. 

SLEIGHT OF HAND. 
It is intended in the following pages to lay more stress upon 
those tricKS which require no apparatus than upon those for 
which special apparatus or the assistance of a confederate is 
required. No one is nearly so well pleased by a trick whose 
essence evidently lies In the machinery, while every one feels 
pleasure at seeing a sleight of hand trick neatly executed. 
The audience often despise all the numerous boxes, bottles, 
variegated covers, and other gimcracks which are generally 
seen on a conjuror's table; and are seldom so pleased with 
^ny performer as with one who does not even require a table, 
but presses into his service articles borrowed from his audi- 
ence. The spectators should never be able to say, •* Ah ! the 
trick lies in the box : he dares not show it to us 1" 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 5 

The following tricks have almost all been successfully per- 
formed, and have caused some reputation in the magic art. 
Some of them are the invention of one of the most eminent 
'•conjurors" of modern times. 

THE FLYING SHILLING. 

This trick must be frequently practiced before it is pro- 
duced in public. 

Borrow two colored silk handkerchiefs from the company, 
and have three shillings in your hand, but only show tico, 
keeping the other one firmly fixed against the first joint of the 
second and third fingers. Yuu must also have a fine needle 
and thread stuck inside the cufi' of your coat. Then take one 
of the handkerchiefs, and put in both shillings, but pretend 
that only one is in the handkerchief; then put the hand- 
kerchief into a hat, leaving one corner hanging out. Now 
hold up the third shilling (which the spectators imagine is 
the second), and ask one of the company to lay the second 
handkerchief over it. You then ask him to hold the shilling 
tight between his finger and thumb, while you twist up the 
handkerchief. While doing so, with both hands concealed 
under the handkerchief, you pass a few stitches under the 
shilling, and replace the* needle. This being done, spread 
one corner of the handkerchief over the hand of the person 
who is st:ll holding the shilling, and, taking hold of another 
corner, tell hmi to drop the shilling when you have counted 
three. At the word "three " he lets go the shilling, and you 
whisk the handkerchief into the air, when the shilling appears 
to have vanished, but is really held in the handkerchief. You 
then tell the astonished individual to draw the other handker- 
chief out of the hat by the corner that is hanging out. The 
two shillings are heard to fall into the hat, and every one is 
persuaded that you have conjured one of the shillings out of 
the person's hand, and sent it into the hat. 

ANOTHER METHOD. 
Perhaps the spectators may ask to see it again, or demand 
to mark the shilling. In this case, vary it as follows. Ask 
some one (always choose the most incredulous of the party) 
to mark a shilling of his own and give it you. Take the 
same handkerchief and give him the shilling to hold that is 
already inclosed in it, as in the last trick, dropping the 
marked shilling into the palm of your hand. Twist it up as 
before, and then leave it entirely in his hands. Direct him to 
place it on a table, and cover it with a basin or saucf r. Ask 
him to give you a cup or tumbler, and hold it under the 
table, beneath the place where the saucer is. Then tell him 
to knock three times on the saucer, and at the third knock 



6 HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 

• 

let the marked shilling fall into the tumbler. Hand him the 
tumbler, and while he is examining the shilling to see if it is 
the same one that he marked, take up the saucer, and shake 
out the handkerchief that is lying under it, as in the last trick. 
You must then return tke handkerchief, and while you 
pretend to be searching for the marks, draw out the thread 
that held the shilling and drop the coin into the palm of your 
hand, taking care to rub between your finger and thumb the 
spot where the threads had been, in order to eradicate the 
marks. This variation seldom fails to confuse the company. 

You must remember to keep talking the whole time, and 
always try to make a joke, or otherwise to distract the 
attention of the audience, while you are executing the neces- 
sary changes. 

TO GET A RING OUT OF A HANDKERCHIEF. 

Bend a piece of gold wire into the form of a ring, having 
previously sharpened both ends. You have a real ring made 
of the same piece of wire, and concealing the false ring in the 
palm of your hand, offer the real one to be inspected. When 
it is returned, borrow a handkerchief, and, while taking it 
from the lender, slip the real ring into your left hand, and 
take the false one at its point of junction. Throw the hand- 
kerchief over the ring, and give it to some one to hold be- 
tween his finger and thumb. Let the handkerchief fall over 
it, and give a piece of string to a second spectator, directing 
him to tie it round the handkerchief, about two inches below 
the ring, so as to inclose it in a bag, and tell him to do so as 
tightly as he can. While he is doing this take up your con- 
juring wand, a rod of some hard wood, about eighteen inches 
long, and when the knot is tied, step forward, passing the rod 
into your left hand, taking care to slip over it the real ring, 
which has lain concealed there. Slip your left hand to the 
center of the rod, and direct each of the two persons to hold 
one end of it in his rio:ht hand. Then tell the one who has 
the ring and handkerchief to lay them on your left hand, 
which you immediately cover with your right. Then tell 
them to spread another haadkerchief over your hands, and to 
say after you any nonsense that you like to invent. 

While they are so doing, unbend the false ring, and draw 
it through the handkerchief by one of its points, carefully 
rubbing between the thumb and fino:er the place where it 
came through. Hang the empty handkerchief over the ring 
which is on the rod, and take away your hands, which you 
exhibit empty, as you have stuck the false ring inside your 
cuff. Take away the upper handkerchief, and let a third per- 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 7 

son come to examine, when he will find the ring gone out of 
the handkerchief and hung upon the rod. 

TO TIE A KNOT IN A HANDKERCHIEF WHICH CAN- 
NOT BE DRAWN TIGHT. 

Cast an ordinary knot on a handkerchief, and give the end 
out of your right hand to some spectator, and tell him to pull 
hard and sharp when you count three. Just as he pulls, slip 
your left thumb under the handkerchief, and it will be pulled 
out quite straight, without any knot at all. You must let go 
the end that hangs over the left hand, and grasp the handker- 
chief between the thumb and forefinger. 

THE THREE CUPS. 

This is an admirable delusion, but requires very careful 
management, and should be practiced repeatedly before it is 
exhibited publicly. You get three tin cups. They should 
have two or three ridges running round them at the mouth, in 
order to give a better hold. Four balls should now be made 
of cork, and carefully blackened. One . of the balls is held 
concealed between the roots of the third and fourth fingers, 
while the other three are handed round for examination, to- 
gether with the cups. When they are returned, the young 
conjuror begins by placing each ball under a cup, or, if 
he chooses, asks one of the spectators to do so for him. 
While this is being done, he slips the fourth ball to the tips of 
the second and third fingers. He then lifts up cup No. 1, 
replacing it on the table a few inches from its first posi- 
tion, and at the same time slips the fourth ball under it. 
He takes up ball No. 1 and pretends to throw it away, but in 
reahty he slips it into the place which the fourth ball had oc- 
cupied. He does the same with the three cups, and then 
commences a sham search after the lost balls, in which he ac- 
cidentally (I) knocks over one of the cups, and, to his pre- 
tended astonishment, finds a ball under it. He then knocks 
over both the other cups, and finds in them the two missing 
balls. 

He again places the balls under the cups, taking eare to 
slip the fourth ball under cup No. 3. He then takes up cup 
No. 1 and pretends to throw the ball into No. 3, but hides it 
as before. As there are already two balls in No. 3, the spec- 
tators Imagine that he really has thrown the ball into it. He 
replaces cup No. 3 over both balls, and slips among them ball 
No. 1. He then takes up cup No. 2, and goes through the same 
process, and on knocking over cup No. 3, all three balls are 
found together under it, and while the spectators are being 
astonished, ball No. 2 can be quickly got rid of. 



8 HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 

A rather startling termination to this trick can be managed 
by taking up one oF the cups with its mouth upwards, holding 
the finger and thumb close to its mouth. Then by throwing 
another cup into it, letting go the first and catching the sec- 
ond, you appear to have thrown the second cup through the 
first. 

TO TIE A HANDKERCHIEF ROUND YOUR LEG, AND 
GET IT OFF WITHOUT UNTYING THE KNOT. 

Hold th^ handkerchief by both ends, lay the center of the 
handkerchief on your knee, and pass the two ends below, ap- 
pearing to cross them, but in reality hitching them within 
each other. Draw this loop tight, and bring back the ends 
to the same side on which they were originally, and tie them 
above. If the loop is properly made it will stand a good 
pull. Then, after showing the spectators how firmly it is 
tied, put your hand under the knot, and by giving it a sharp 
pull, it will come off". 

THE MAGIC BOND. 

Take a piece of string, and tie the two ends together with 
a weaver's knot, as that holds the best, and arrange it over 
the fingers. Having done so, let the long loop hang loose, 
lift both loops off the thumb, draw them forward until the 
string is quite tight, and then put them behind the hand, by 
passing them between the second and third fingers. Then 
pull the part of the string that is across the roots of the 
fingers, and the whole affair will come off. 

THE OLD MAN AND HIS CHAIR. 

Take the same piece of string as in the last trick, hold your 
left hand with the palm uppermost, and hang the string over 
the palm. Spread all the fingers, and with the right hand 
bring forward the loop that hangs behind, by passing it over 
the second and third fingers. Loosen the loop, take hold of 
the part of the string that crosses the hand, and pull it for- 
ward. When tight pass it to the back of the hand> the 
reversal of the movement that brought it forward. Loosen 
the loop, insert the fore-finger and little finger of the right 
hand under the string that encircles the left fore-finger and 
little finger, and pass the two loops to the back of the hand. 
Tuck both loops under the cross-string at the back, and 
your preltrainaries are completed. Then begin your story: 
" There was once upon a time an old man who stole a pound 
of candles. Here they are." You then hold your left hand as 
at the commencement, hook the right fore-finger under the 
cross-piece at the back and draw it downward until it is long 
enough to be passed over the second and third fingers to the 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 9 

front. Pass it over, and draw it slowly upward, when the 
similitude of a pound of candles hanging by their string will 
be seen. " The old man, being tired, hung up his candles " — 
you then hang the long loop over your thumb — "and sat 
down in his high-backed chair, which you see here." You 
then hitch the light fore-finger and middle finger under the 
two loops that will be found hanging behind the left hand, 
bring them to the front, raise them perpendicularly, and the 
chair will be seen. The thumb must be raised perpen- 
dicularly, and brought as much as possible into the center of 
the hand, or the chair will be all aside. 

** When the old man was rested it began to become dark, 
and he took a pair of scissors to cut down a candle for 
himself. Here are the scissors." While you are saying this 
you slip the loop off' the thumb, and you get a pair of scissors. 
Move the blades and handles of the scissors, as if cutting 
something with them. " Just as he had lighted it, in came a 
policeman, and produced his staff", with the Queen's crown at 
the top.^' Now let go the little finger of the left hand, and the 
loop will run up the string toward the right hand, producing 
a King's crown. "The old man in vain tried to resist, for the 
policeman called a comrade to his assistance, and they tied a 
cord round the old man's arm, in a tight knot, like this * — slip 
the right middle finger out of its loop, and you will obtain the 
knot — '* and carried him off' to prison." 

TO TIE A KNOT ON THE LEFT WRIST, WITHOUT 
LETTING THE RIGHT HAND APPROACH IT. 

Take a piece of thick pliant string by each end, and with a 
quick jerk of the right hand cast a loop on it. The jerk must 
be given upwards and towards the left hand, and its impetus 
will cause the loop to run up the string until it falls over the 
left wrist. The moment that the forward jerk is given the 
right hand should be drawn back, so that the loop is drawn 
tight directly it has settled on the wrist. Both ends should be 
let fall when the knot is firm. This is a very nice little sleight 
of hand to practice in the intervals between more showy 
tricks, and, although rather diflftcult to learn, is soon acquired. 

THE HANDCUFFS. 

Let two persons, a and b, have their hands tied together 
with string, so that the strings cross. The object is to free 
themselves from each other without untying the knot. It is 
executed in the folio vving manner: 

Let B gather up the string that joins his hands, pass the 
loop under the string that binds either of a's wrists, slip it 



10 HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 

over A*s hand, and both will be free. By a reversal of the 
same process, the string may be replaced. 

TO PULL A STRING THROUGH YOUR BUTTON-HOLE. 

Take a piece of string about two feet in length, and tie the 
ends together. Pass it through a button-hole of your coat ; 
hitch one thumb at each end, hook the little fingers into the 
upper strings of the opposite hand. Then draw the hands 
well outward, and the string will look very compUcated. 

To get out the string, loose the hold of the right thumb and 
left little finger, and separate the hands smartly, when the 
string will appear to have been pulled out through the sub- 
stance of your coat. 

It is an improvement of the trick if,' immediately on loosing 
the hold of the right thumb, you change the string from the 
right little finger on to the thumb. 

THE CUT STRING RESTORED. 

Tie together the ends of a piece of string, pass one hand 
through each end, twist it once round, and put both ends into 
the left hand. Draw the right hand rapidly along the double 
strings until you come to the place where the strings have 
crossed each other. Conceal the junction with the thumb and 
finger of the right hand; hold the strings in a similar manner 
with the left hand, and tell some one to cut the strings be- 
tween them. You show that the string has been divided into 
two pieces, and say that you will join them with your teeth. 
Put all four ends into your mouth, and remove with your 
tongue the little loop that has been cut ofl". When you take 
the string out of your mouth, the spectators will not notice 
the absence of so small a portion of its length, and will fancy 
that you really have joined them. 

THE GORDIAN KNOT. 

Take a silk handkerchief, and lay it on a table. Take 
each of the corners, and lay them across each other in the 
middle of the handkerchief, which will then be square. Do 
the same with the new corners, and go on until the hand- 
kerchief is reduced to the size of your hand. Then with your 
left finger and thumb take hold of the center, taking care to 
grasp all the four corners that lie there, and with the right 
finger and thumb take hold of the outer layer of silk, and 
pull it towards you as far as it will come. Then turn it a 
little on }'our left hand, and repeat the operation until it is all 
screwed up into a tight ball. No ends will be then per- 
ceptible, and a person who is unacquainted with the mode will 
never be able to untie it. Of course you must prepare it pre- 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 11 

viously. When the person to whom you give it has failed to 
untie it, you take the ball in your hand, and holding it behind 
your back, you reverse the method by which it was tied, and 
when it is loose a good shake will release it. 

THE KNOT LOOSENED. 

This is a very amusing deception. You ask any one for a 
handkerchief, and tie the ends firmly together in a double knot 
allowing him to feel it, or pull the ends as tight as he pleases. 
You then throw the center of the handkerchief over the knot, 
and ask the person to hold it tight between his finger and 
thumb. You ask him if the knot is still there, to which he 
will answer in the aflarmative. You then take hold of 
any part of the handkerchief, and direct the holder to drop 
the handkerchief at the word ''three." You count *'one, 
two, three," at which word he looses his hold of the hand- 
kerchief, and there is no vestige left of the knot. 

The method of managing this trick is as follows: — Take the 
handkerchief and tie the ends in a simple knot, keeping one 
end tight, and the other end loose. We will call the tight end 
A, and the loose one b. Keep a always in the right hand, and 
on the stretch horizontally. Do this when you tie it the second 
time, and draw b tight, which will then form a double tie round 
A, but will not hold it firm. When you throw the handkerchief 
over the knot, you draw out a with the finger and thumb of the 
left hand and the knot will apparently remain firm, although 
in reality it is nothing but a double twist of silk, which of 
course falls loose when the handkerchief is dropped. 

TO PUT NUTS INTO YOUR EAR. 

Take three nuts in the left hand, show them, and take out one 
of them between your right finger and thumb, and another be- 
tween the first and third finger. This latter is not seen by the 
company. You then put one of them in your mouth and 
retain it there, unknown to the spectators while you exhibit 
the second as the one that you put into j^our mouth. This 
second one you carry to your ear, as if you meant to insert it 
there, and on replacing it in your left hand, only two nuts 
will be left instead of three, the third of which appears to 
have gone into your ear. 

TO CRACK ATALNUTS IN YOUR ELBOW. 

Conceal a very strong walnut in your right hand, and take 
two other walnuts out of the dish. Place one of them on the 
joint of your arm, and say that you are going to br?ak it by 
the power of your muscles. You will now have one walnut 
In your arm and two in your right hand. Close your left 



12 HOW TO BECOME A MAGIGIAN. 

arm, and strike it an apparently violent blow with the right 
hand at the same time clenching the right hand violently, 
which will smash the second walnut in it, and tlie spectators 
hearing the crash will be sure to fancy that it is caused by the 
demolition of the walnut in your arm. Then open your arm 
very gently Cfor fear of dropping any of the fragments, 
5^ou must say), and when pretending to take out the walnut 
Which j^ou had placed there, you substitute for it the broken 
one from your right hand. 

TO TAKE FEATHERS OUT OF AN EMPTY HAND- 
KERCHIEF. 

Procure at the military clothier's four or five large plumes, 
such as are worn by officers. Take off your coat, and lay the 
plumes along your arms, the stem being toward your hand. 
Now put on your coat again, and the feathers will lie quite 
smoothly and unsuspected. Borrow a hankerchief from one 
of the spectators, and wave it about to show that it is empty. 
Throw it over your left hand, and with the right draw out one 
of the plumesfrom up the coat-sleeve, at the same time 
giving it a flourish in the air, which will loosen all the fibers 
of the feather, and make it appear much too large to have 
been concealed about the person. Wave the handkerchief 
again, and repeat the operation until all the plumes are gone. 
You can carry enough plumes under the sleeve to cover 
a table with, and if you prepare a board or an ornamental 
vase full of holes, you can place the plumes upright as you 
take them out. 

TRICKS REQUIRING SPECIAL APPARATUS. 

None of the following tricks are wholly managed by the 
apparatus, as such performances are unwortliy of notice. 
Therefore, every trick mentioned lU the following pages must 
be carefully practiced in private before it is produced in 
public. The apparatus, of course, cannot be inspected by the 
audience, and for that reason it is better to mix them with 
those tricks which have been already mentioned, in order that 
suspicious persons may be quieted by an occasional permis- 
sion to inspect the objects used in the performances. 

The young conjuror should always vary the mode of per- 
formance in the non-essentials, and should study combina- 
tions of one trick with another, by which means he will pro- 
duce more astonishing results than if he restricted himself to 
the methods mentioned in this work. He should also in- 
variably make a little speech, acknowledging that he is only 
deceiving the eye, and not the mind, and should therefore 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 18 

request the company not to ask any questions, or to demand 
inspection of any of liis apparatus. 

THE DIE TRICK. 

Get a wooden die about two inches and a half square, and 
a hollow tin die exactly the size of the wooden one, but with- 
out one of the sides. Then paint them both exactly alike. 
It will be better to let an accidental flaw appear on the same 
side of each. Then get a tin cover that exactly fits the dies. 
Now for the trick itself. 

Borrow two hats, and while you turn your back upon the 
audience as you go to your table, slip into one of them the 
false d'e. Place both hats on the table, and send round the 
real die and cover for inspection. When they are returned, 
say, ''Now, ladies and gentlemen, it is my intention to place 
these hats one above another, thus." You then place the 
two hats one above the other, the rims together, the hollow 
die being in the bottom hat. *'I shall then cover the die 
thus," which you do, "and after 1 have knocked on the 
cover, I shall take it off, and you will find that the die is 
not under the cover, as it is now," taking it off, "but in- 
side the hat, like this." You then put the real die into the 
hat. "You do not believe me, ladies and gentlemen, but 
I will soon convince you." You then take out the false 
die, and replacing the upper hat, put the die on the upper 
hat (of course, with the open side downward) and place 
the cover over it. Pick up your conjuring wand, give it a 
few flourishes, and bring it down on the cover. Grasp the 
cover tightly near the bottom, when both cover and false die 
will come up together; put the end of your wand into them, 
and give them a good rattle. Then knock off the upper hat 
with a blow of the wand, and push the lower one off the 
table, so that the die tumbles out of it. Always use plenty 
of gesture about your tricks. 

THE DOLL TRICK. 

Get a comical-looking doll, and cut ofl' his head diagonally, 
taking care to do it very neatly. Drive a peg into the neck, 
and bore a hole in the body, into which the peg fits. Paint 
his body and head carefully, and if you put a gold chain or 
two round his neck, it will conceal the line of junction. 
Make also a coat of silk, and sew a pocket inside the edge of 
ihe skirt. 

Take up the doll and say: "Now, ladies and gentlemen, 
here is a very learned man. Observe the development of his 
forehead, the sagacity of his nose, the eloquence of his lips, 
the dignity of his spectacles, and the philosophy of his pig- 



14 HOW TO BECOME A MAGiaAN. 

tall. He is professor of astronomy at Tlmbuctoo* and her© is 
his gown of oflQce. See how handsome he looks in it. He is 
going to Amsterdam to see the eclipse of the last new comet. 
He has the honor to wish you all farewell before starting on 
his journey. Now, professor, we are waiMng to see you go. 
Oh I you want funds, do you? I beg your pardon, here is a 
shilling for you. ' So saying, you talie your right hand from 
under the gown, taking with it the body, and put the body 
into your pocket, while }■ on jingle some silver. The head is 
now supported by your left hand. Pretend to give him some 
money, and then say: ** What, you won't go unless you have 
more? G«*t along l" Hit the head a hard rap with your right 
hand, which drives it into the packet, which you hold open for 
it with your left thumb and little finger. "Oh. dear! the 
doctor is dea(% and cannot be found." Saying this you grasp 
the gown by tlie place where the head is, and shake it about 
to show that it is empty. If you like, you can make another 
oration and hold a dialogue, making the doctor resuscitate 
himself, which is, of course, done by taking the head out of 
the pocket with the left hand, and working it about by the 
peg. 

THE VANISHED GROAT. 
Put a little wax on the nail of the middle finger of the right 
hand, and take a five-cent piece into the palm of the same 
hand. Close the hand, pressing the wax on the coin. Then 
rapidly open it, and the silver piece will adhere to the wax, 
and be quite concealed behind the finger when you hold your 
hand up. 

THE RESTORED DOCUMENT. 

Make a memorandum book, and line the cover with paper 
which has been previously rubbed with a mixture of lamp- 
black and oil. The paper must be loosely afl[ixed, so that it 
can be raised up, and a leaf from the memorandum book 
placed under it. You must also make a flat box, having a 
dtuble opening. , , , ^ , 

You now take a leaf out of the memorandum book, and ask 
some one to write a sentence, at the same time oflering him 
the book to write upon. The pencil with which you furnish 
him is very hard, and he is forced to press upon the paper in 
order to mark. In so doing the black is transferred by the 
pressure of the pencil from the blackened paper to the white 
leaf that has been placed under it, and of course makes an ex- 
act copv of the writing. You then give the man his docu- 
ment, put the memorandum book in your pocket, and go out 
of the room to fetch your box, which you have forgotterin 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 15 

While you are out of the room, you take out the leaf from 
under the black paper, and put it in one side of the flat box, 
and shut down the cover that hides it. You bring in the box, 
apologizing for your absence, and give the box, open at the 
other side, into the writer's hands. Tell him to burn his 
writing in a candle, and to place the ashes in the box. He 
does so, and closing the box, returns it to you. You then 
flourish about a little with the box, wave it in the air, bring it 
down with a bang on the table, strike it wV-h your wand, and 
then, opening ir, as at first, you produce the duplicate leaf, 
which the writer acknowledges to be his own hand-writing. 
If the lamp-black should have come oflf and smeared the 
paper, you can account for it^by observing that it is very diffi- 
cult to get rid of all traces of the burning. 

THE FISH AND INK TRICK. 

This is really a first-rate delusion. You bring before the 
spectators a glass vase, full of ink. You dip a ladle into it, 
and pour out some of the ink upon a plate, in order to con- 
vince the audience that the substance in the vase is really 
ink. You then throw a handkerchief over the vase and in- 
stantly withdraw it, when the vase is found to be filled with 
pure water, in which a couple of gold fish are swimming. 

This apparent impossibility is performed as follows. To 
the interior of the vessel is fitted a black silk lining, which 
adheres closely to the sides when pressed by the water, and 
which is withdrawn inside the handkerchief during the per- 
formance of the trick. The ladle has a hollow handle with 
an opening into the bowl. In the handle is a spoonful or so 
of ink, which runs into the bowl when it is held downwards 
during the act of dipping it into the vase. 

THE CANNON BALLS. 

The performer of this trick borrows a number of hats, and 
places them on the table. He then returns each person his 
hat, and on turning it over, a thirty-two pounder cannon ball 
rolls out. 

The method of performing this delusion is as follows. Get 
a turner to make a number of wooden balls, each the size of 
a thirty-two pounder cannon ball, and let a hole be bored in 
each which will admit the middle finger. The balls are ar- 
ranged hole upwards on a shelf on your table on the side 
opposite to the audience, so that the balls are nearly level 
with the top of the table. When you take a hat ofi* the table, 
you slip your fore or middle finger into the ball just as you 
would into a thimble, and by bending the finger, bring the 
ball into the hat. 



16 HOW TO BECOME A MAaiClAN, 

Any object may b6 brought into a bat in this manner, a 
great cabbage, for instance, having a hole cut in the stalk. 

THE SHILLING IN THE BALL OF COTTON. 

Get a tinman to make a flat tin tube, which will just allow 
a shilling to pass through it. Wind a quantity of worsted 
round it, so as to make it into a ball. 

These preliminaries having been accomplished, perform 
any trick that will get a shilling out of sight. Then tell the 
spectators that you will bring the marked shilUng into the 
middle of a ball of worsted. Take down the ball from the 
place where it is Ijing, drop the shilling inio the tube, and 
withdraw the tube, leaving the shillmg in the ball. A good 
squeeze or two will hold if tight, and obliterate every mark of 
the tube. Place the ball in a tumbler, take the end of the 
worsted, and give it to some one to unwind. This being 
done, the shilling will be found in the very center of th6 ball, 
with the end of the worsted wrapped tightly round it. 

THE EGG AND BAG TRICK. 

Get a chintz or cloth bag made double, and between the 
two bags make six or seven pockets, each of which will hold 
an egg, and having an opening into the bag. Fill the pock- 
ets with eggs, and you are readv for the performance. 

Hold the bag by the place where the eggs are, shake it, 
turn it inside out and show that there is nothing in it. Then 
tell the spectators that you are sure that there is a hen in the 
bag, put your head near the mouth of the bag, and make a 
clucking like a hen. You then say, **I knew 1 was right, and 
she Las laid an egg.''^ So saying, you put your hand into the 
bag and take out one of the eggs, taking care to pretend to 
grope in one of the corners for it. 

This is repeated until all the eggs but one are gone. You 
then, after taking out the last egg, say that some people think 
that the eggs are not real, but you will convince them by 
ocular inspection. Saying this, you break the egg in a saucer 
with your right hand, and while the people are occupied with 
it, you drop the bag Ijehind your table, or hang it on a hook 
out of sight, and take up another exactly like it, into which 
you have put a hen. ''These are real eggs," you then say, 
" and if any one doubts their reality, they cannot doubt that 
this is a real hen." You then turn the bag upside down, and 
shake out the hen. If any one wishes to inspect that bag, 
he can do so without being much wiser for it. 

THE DANCING EGG. 
Send for some eggs, and take care to place among them 
one which has been emptied of its contents, and to which is 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. IT 

fastened a long hair, at the other end of which is tied a 
crooked pin. Borrow a small stick from one of the spectators, 
and as you go behind your table contrive to hook the bent 
pin into your coat, passing it over the stick. Then ptace the 
egg on an inverted hat, and ask for some music, and directly 
it begins to sound, a slight and imperceptible depression or 
elevation of the stick will cause the egg to twist and roll about 
upon it, as if it had life. You must be careful to turn gently 
round now and then, so as apparently to vary the distance of 
the egg from the body. 

BELL AND SHOT. 

Get a wooden bell made, so thick that there is a consider- 
able space between the outer and inner surfaces, especially on 
the upper part of the bell. A hollow must be cut in this, and 
the handle so made, that when it is at rest, it is forced up- 
wards by a spring, and draws up the round piece of wood to 
which the clapper chain is attached, and closes the aperture. 

You have a cardboard measure, which is of precisely the 
same capacity as the cavity in the bell, and just wide enough to 
hold a cent. Into this you privately put a cent, and then fill 
up the measure with shot, heaping it a little, to compensate 
for the cent. You make up a tale about a man going out 
shooting, and ringing the bell of the gunmaker's shop. (You 
then ring your wooden bell.) How the man bought a meas- 
ure full of shot for a cent (you pour the shot into the bell and 
back again two or three times), but was so long haggling 
over three shots that the gunmaker took away the shot (here 
you again pour the shot into the bell, and by pressing on the 
handle, allow them all to run into the hollow), and kept the 
cent for his trouble. The man went out of the shop, but soon 
came in ae:ain, and rang furiously. (Here you again ring the 
bell, which is now apparently empty, and invert the measure on 
the table. The cent not being held by the finger and thumb 
will now fall on the tablecloth.) Then finish the story with an 
account of the manner in which the man got back his cent. 
When you have finished, invert the bell over the empty meas- 
ure, and on pressing the handle, the shots will refill it. Do 
not touch it until you have done another trick or two, and 
then, when you put the bell aside, ring it again, and remark 
that the purchaser was a silly fellow after all, for here are his 
shots in his measure. 

THE FIRE-EATER. 

If the young conjuror is desirous of appearing in the char- 
acter of a fire-eater, it is very easily managed. He must pre- 
pare a piece of thick string, by soaking it in a solution of 



18 HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 

nitre, and then drying it. He cuts off a piece about an inch 
iu length, lights one end, and wraps it up in a piece of tow 
which he holds in his left hand. The trifling, smoke will be 
concealed by a huge bundle of loose tow also carried in the 
left hand. 

He takes a handful of tow in his right hand, puts it into his 
mouth, chews it up, and appears to swallow it. He then 
takes another handful, and with it the piece in which is the 
string. As he puts this into his mouth, he takes out the piece 
which he has already chewed. By taking breath through the 
nostrils, and breathing it out through the mouth, smoke be- 
gins to issue forth, and the whole interior of the mouth is soon 
lighted up with a glow. When the mouth is shut, and the 
tow pressed together, the fire goes out, except the piece of 
prepared string. More tow is then taken into the mouth, and 
treated in the same manner. 

In this short account of conjuring, I have purposely 
avoided such tricks as require expensive apparatus. Such 
apparatus is either entirely beyond a boy's reach, or at all 
events he ought not to be encouraged in the notion of spend- 
ing much money on objects of no real use. A boy of any in- 
genuity will make the greater part of the apparatus himself, 
or at least he can do the painting and polishing of his ma- 
chinery. 



TRICKS WITH CARDS. 

In accordance with the previous rule, the principal stress is 
laid on card tricks that require no apparatus, and may be 
performed with ordinary cards. 

TO MAKE THE PASS. 

This is a necessary beginning for card tricks. "Making 
the pass" is the technical term for shifting- either the top or 
the bottom card to any place in the pack that you like. It is 
almost impossible to describe it, and I can only say that it 
will be learnt better in five minutes from a friend than in as 
many hours from a book. As, however, a friend is not al- 
ways to be found who can perform the pass, I will endeavor 
to describe it. 

The cards are held in both hands, right hand underneath 
and left above, where, as the bottom card is to be raised to 
the top, the little finger is inserted between tbat card and 
those above it. By a quick movement of the right hand, the 
bottom card is slipped away towards the left, and is placed 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICUN. 19 

upon the top card, under shadow of the left hand, which is 
raised for the moment to allow of its passage. 

This movement must be assiduously practiced before it is 
exhibited in public, as nothing looks more awkward than to 
see it clumsily performed, in which case two or three cards 
generally tumble on the floor. 

TO TELL A CARD BY ITS BACK. 

While shuffling the pack cast a glance at the bottom card, 
make the pass, and bring it to the top. Continue to shuffle, 
and lay upon it by degrees as many cards aa you like, say 
six. Then lay the pack on the table, face downwards, and di- 
vide it into seven heaps, beginning at the bottom, and leave 
the seventh heap larger than any of the others. 

When you have done this, take one card from the top of 
the seventh heap, appear to calculate, and lay it, face up- 
wards, on one of the other heaps. Do so with five more 
cards, thus leaving your slipped card at the top of the seventh 
heap. You tjjen announce that by the aid of the six cards 
you will name the seventh. You name it accordingly, after 
carefully studying the other cards, and on asking a spectator 
to take it up, it will be seen that you are right. 

If you place five cards above the slipped card, you will lay 
out six heaps, and if eight cards, there will, of course, be 
nine heaps. 

THE CARD NAMED WITHOUT BEING SEEN. 

As in the last trick, cast a glance at the bottom card, say 
the ace of spades. Lay out the pack in as many heaps as 
you like, noting where that one is laid which contains that 
bottom card. Ask any one to take up the top card of any 
heap, look at it, and replace it. You then gather up the 
heaps apparently by chance, but you take care to put the 
heap containing the bottom card upon the card which has 
been chosen. You then give any one the cards to cut, and 
on counting them over, the card that immediately follows the 
ace of spades is the card chosen. 

If by any accident the two cards should be separated when 
cut, the upper card of the pack is the chosen one, and can be 
picked out with seeming: care. 

THE FOUR KINGS. 
Take the four kings out of a pack of cards, and also two 
other court cards, which are not to be shown. Spread out 
the kings before the spectators, but conceal the two court 
cards between the third and fourth kings. Lay the cards face 
downwards on the table. Take ofl* the bottom card, which is 
of course one of the kings; show it as if by accident, and place 



20 HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 

it on the top. Take the next card (which is one of the court 
cards), and place that in the middle of the pack. Take the 
third card {i. e., the second court card), and place that also 
near the middle of the pack. There will then be one king at 
the top and three at the bottom. Ask any one to cut the 
cards, and to examine them, when he will find all four kings 
together in the middle of the pack. 

It is better to use court cards to place between the third 
and fourth kings, because if the cards should slip aside, they 
would not be so readily distinguished as common cards. 

AUDACITY. 

Several tricks may be successfully played by sheer audacity. 
A whole party has been astonished by the performer holding 
a pack of cards over his head, and naming each. The fact 
was, that he was standing exactly opposite a large mirror, in 
which the cards were reflected, while the spectators, having 
their backs to the mirror, suspected nothing. 

Here are one or two tricks that depend on audacity for suc- 
cess. 

THE CARD FOUND AT THE SECOND GUESS. 

Offer the cards to any one, and let him draw one. You 
then hold the cards behind your back, and tell him to place 
his card on the top. Pretend to make a great shuflaing, but 
only turn that card with its back to the others, still keeping it 
at the top. Then hold up the cards with their faces towards 
the spectator, and ask him if the bottom card is his. While 
doing so, you inspect his card at your leisure. He of course 
denies it, and you begin shuffling again furiously. **Let me 
do that," he will probably say; so, as you are perfectly ac- 
quainted with his card, you let him shuffle as much as he 
likes, and then, when you get the cards back again, shuffle 
until his card is at the bottom. Then pass them behind your 
back, make a ruffling noise with them, and show him his own 
card at the bottom. 

THE CARD FOUND UNDER THE HAT. 

Have a needle stuck just inside your sleeve. Hand the 
cards, &c., just as in the preceding trick, and tell the taker to 
put the card on the top. Take out the needle, and prick a 
hole nearly through the top Ze/^hand corner. Replace the 
needle, shuffle the cards, or let any one shuffle them. Place 
the pack on the table, cover them with a hat, and the marked 
card will be known by a little raised knob on the right'\\?Ln^ 
top corner. Draw out card by card, saying whether it is that 
card or not, until you come to the marked one, which you 
throw on the table carelessly, and when you are about taking 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 21 

out another card, stop suddenly, and pretend to find, by some 
magic process, that it is the chosen card. ^ 

TO CALL THE CARDS OUT OF THE PACK. 

Tell the spectators that you will call six cards out of the 
pack. Secure a card — say the ace of spades— in the palm of 
your hand. Throw the pack on the table, face downwards, 
spread out the cards, give one of the spectators your conjuring 
wand, and tell him, when you name a card, to touch one, 
which you will take up. 

First name the ace of spades. He touches a card, which 
you take up without showing the face of it. This card may 
be, say the eight of diamonds. Put it into your left hand, 
and place it upon the ace of spades which is already there, so 
that the two look like one card. Then call for the eight of 
diamonds. Another card is touched, say the queen of clubs. 
This you put with the others, and, after pretending to cal- 
culate, call for the queen of clubs. 

Proceed in this manner until six cards have been drawn. 
Then substitute the last card drawn (which is, of course, a 
wrong one) for the ace of spades, and conceal it in tde palm 
of your hand. Then strew the others on the table, and 
while the eyes of the spectators are fixed upon them, get rid 
of the card' in your left hand. 

It is a good plan to ask some one to write down the names 
of the cards as they are called, and then to have the list called 
over, in order that every one may see that there has been no 
mistake. 

HEADS AND TAILS. 

While you are shuffling the cards, contrive to arrange 
quietly all their heads one way, or as many as possible, re- 
jectmg all the diamonds except the king, queen, knave, and 
seven, and passing them to the bottom. Put the pack upon the 
table, take off a number of the upper cards, and ofler them 
for some one to choose a card from. While he is looking at 
it, turn the cards round, and offer them to him, in order that 
he may replace it. Shuffle the cards, and on looking them 
over, the chosen card will be standing with its head one 
way, while the others are reversed. 

THE SURPRISE. 
When you have discovered a card, the following plan will 
make a striking termination to the trick. Get the card to 
the bottom of the pack, and tell one of the spectators to bold 
the cards by one corner as tightly as he can. Give them a 
sharp rap with your finger— not with your hand— and all the 
cards will be struck out of his hold, and fall on the floor, ex- 



22 HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 

«ept the bottom card, which will remain between his fingei 
and thumb, It has a rather more dashing effect, if you put 
the chosen card at the top, and strike them upwards, wnen 
the whole pack will fly about the room like a flock of butter- 
flies, only leaving the top card iu the person's grasp. 

THE REVOLUTION. 

Another neat way of finishing a trick is as follows. Get 
the card to the top of the pack; and taking care that all the 
cards are even, drop the pack on the*floor, taking care, just as 
you let go, to slip the top card a little off the rest of the pack. 
In falling, the resistance of the air will turn the card over, and 
it will rest with its face upwards on the top of the pack. 

THE SLIPPED CARD. 

Ascertain the bottom card of the pack; hold the cards in 
your left hand, with their faces downwards. Place your right 
hand upon them, and with your right fore-finger slide them 
slowly over each other, asking some one to stop any card he 
chooses, by putting his finger upon it. When he has done so 
open the pack at that card, but while opiening it, make the 
pass, and bring the bottom card under the one touched. 
Hold up the cards, and ask the chooser to be sure of his card; 
hand all the cards to him, and let him shuflae as much as be 
chooses. Afterwards discover the card in any manner that 
you prefer. The following is a good plan. 

THE NAILED CARD. 

Take a flat-headed nail, and file it down until its point is as 
sharp as a needle, and the head quite flat. The nail should 
be about half an inch long, c even shorter if anything. 
Pass the nail through the center of any card — say the ace of 
spades — and conceal it in your left hand. 

Take another pack of cards, get the ace of spades to the 
bottom, and perform the preceding trick. When the cards 
are returned, shuffle them about, and exchange the pierced 
card for the other. Put the pierced card at the bottom of the 
pack, and throw the cards violently against a door, when the 
nail will be driven in by the pressure of the other cards against 
its head, ancj the chosen card will be seen nailed to the door. 
The nail should be put through the face of the card, so that 
when the others fail on the floor, it remains facing the specta- 
tors. 

TO ASCERTAIN THE NUMBER OF POINTS ON THREE 
UNSEEN CARDS. 
In this amusement the ace counts eleven, the court cards ten 
each, and the others according to the number of their spots. 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 23 

Ask any one to choose any three cards, and lay them on the 
table, with their faces downwards. On each of these he must 
place as many as with the number of the card will make 
fifteen. He gives you the remaining cards, and when you 
have them in your hand, you count them over on the pretense 
of shuffling them, and by adding sixteen, you will have the 
number of points on the three cards. 

For example, the spectator chooses a four, an eigiht, and a 
king. On the four he places eleven cards, on the eight seven, 
and on the king five. There will be then six cards left. Add 
to these six sixteen, and the result will be twenty two, which 
is the number of points on the three cards, the king counting 
ten, added to the eight and the four. 

TO TELL THE NUMBERS ON TWO UNSEEN CARDS. 

As in the preceding trick, the ace counts eleven, and the 
court cards ten each. Let the person who chooses the two 
cards lay them on the table with their faces downward, and 
place on each as many as will make their number twenty-five. 

Take the remaining cards and count them, when they will 
be found to be just as many as the points in the two cards. 
For example, take an ace and a queen, i.e. eleven and ten, 
and lay them on the table. On the ace you must put fourteen 
cards, and on the queen fifteen. There will be then fifteen 
cards in one heap and sixteen in the other; these added to- 
gether make thirty-one cards; these subtracted from the 
number of cards in the pack, i.e. fifty-two, leave twenty-one, 
the joint number of the ace and the queen. 

THE PAIRS RE-PAIRED. 

Tell out twenty cards in pairs, and ask ten people to take a 
pair each, and remember them. Take up the pairs in their 
order, and lay them on the table in order, accordmg to the 
accompanying table, which forms a memoria technica, and 
may be construed. Mutus gave a name to the Coci Ca people 
who have yet to be discovered). 

M U T U SI 

12 3 2 4 

D E D I T 

5 6 5 7 3 

N M E N 

8 9 16 8 

C C I S 

10 9 10 7 4 

(1) The figures represent the pairs, i.e. tlie 1 under M signifies that 
M belongs to the first pair. 



24 HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 

Arranging these words in your mind on the table, take the 
first card of the first pair, lay it on m in Mutus, and the second 
on the M in Nomen. The next pair goes entirely in Mutus, 
being two u's. The first card of the second pair goes on t in 
Mutus, and the second on t in Dedit; and so on until all the 
cards are laid in their places. 

Ask each person in succession in which rows his cards are, 
and you can immediately point them out. For example, if he 
says the second and third row, you point out the second and 
fourth cards in those rows, because they both represent the 
letter e. If another says the first and last rows, you point 
out the last card in each, because the cards represent s in 
Mutus and s in Cocis. It will be seen that the whole table 
consists of ten letters, each repeated. 

THE QUEEN DIGGING FOR DIAMONDS. 

Select from a pack the aces, kings, queens, and knaves, 
together with four common cards of each suit. Lay down the 
four queens in a row, and say, ** Here are four queens going 
to dig for diamonds. {Lay a common diamond over each 
queen.) They each took a spade with them {place a common 
spade 071 each diamond) and dug until ihey were nearly 
tired. Their four kings, thinking that they might be attacked 
by robbers, sent four soldiers to keep guard. {Lay an ace on 
each spade.) Evening came, and the queens had not re- 
turned, so the kings, fearing that they might have come to 
harm, became uneasy and set off themselves. {Place a king 
on each ace.) They were only just in time, for as they came 
along, they met their queens being carried off by four villains 
(lay a knave on each king), who, although only armed with 
clubs {place a common club on each knave)^ had over- 
powered the guards and driven them off. But the four kings, 
being possessed of bold hearts {lay a common heart over each 
king), soon vanquished the villains, and bound them." 
Gather up the cards, place the heaps upon each other and 
direct some one to cut them. Have them cut four or five 
times, and continue to do so until a common heart appears at 
the bottom. Then continue the tale, and sa5^ " The party 
then returned home in the following order. First the queen 
{lay down the top card) with the diamonds which she had 
found {lay down the second card, which will be a diamond) 
in one hand, and her spade {the third card will be a spaded in 
the other, etc., etc." You continue dealing out the cards in 
that manner, and it will be found that they will be in precisely 
the same order as when they were taken up. 
THE TRIPLE DEAL. 

Take any twenty-one cards, and ask some one to choose one 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 25 

from them. Lay them out in three heaps, and ask the person 
who took the card in which heap it is. You may turn your 
back while he searches. Gather them up and put that heap 
between the other two. Do this twice more, and the chosen 
card will always be the eleventh from the top. 

THE QUADRUPLE DEAL. 
This is a variation of the preceding. Take twenty-four 
cards, and lay them in four heaps. Act as in the triple deal, 
putting the heap in which is the chosen card second. The 
tenth card will be the one thought of. 

THE CONFEDERATE COIN. 

Put some wax on a dime, and stick it to the under edge of 
a table without a cover. Then borrow a d.me from one of 
the company, and, turning up your cuffs and opening your 
fingers widely, to show that you have not another concealed, 
rub it quickly backward and forward on the table with your 
right hand, holding your left under the edge of the table to 
catch it. ' After two or three feigned unsuccessful attempts 
to accomplish your object, you loosen the concealed coin with 
the tips of the fingers of the left hand, and at the same time 
sweep the borrowed dime into it. Rub them together for a 
few seconds, and then throw them both upon the table. 

TO MAKE TOUCH-PAPER. 

Dissolve in some spirits of wine or vinegar a little salt- 
peter; then take some purple or blue paper, wet it with the 
above liquor, and when dry it will be fit for use. When you 
paste this paper on any of your works, take care that the 
paste does not touch that part which is to burn. The method 
of using this paper is by cutting it into slips long enough to 
go once around the mouth of the serpent, cracker, etc. 
When you paste on these slips, leave a little above the mouth 
of the case not pasted, then prime the case with meal pow- 
der, and twist the paper to a point. 

MAGIC BOXES. 

Have seven or eight boxes of box-wood, turned of such di- 
mensions that the smallest will contain a coin, or a ring, and 
that they will shut and fit one inside the other. Observe that 
they must close easily, and that all the boxes successively 
may fit into the largest, while the largest lid, also, may con- 
tain all the smaller ones. 

The bottoms and fids being then inserted one in another, 
from the smallest to the largest, you may, taking up all the 
lids together, and keeping them up by the aid of the finger. 



26 HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 

place them at once on the nest of boxes, and close the whole 
by a single movement, as easily as if there had been but one. 
Having put the boxes and lids thus arranged into your 
pocket, or conjuror's bag, in such a manner that they cannot 
be displaced, you will ask for a ring or coin from one of the 
company, taking care to have a similar one by you, concealed 
in your hand, which you will adroitly substitute for the one 
lent. Feeling then in your pocket, apparently for your hand- 
kerchief, or snuff-box, you place the ring or coin rapidly in the 
smallest box, and immediately shut the whole nest. Then 
drawing the box out of your pocket, you propose to make the 
trinket or coin pass into it, it being supposed that you are 
holding it in the fingers of the other hand. Pretend to make 
it pass into the box, concealing it quickly. Then tell the 
person who lent it, to open the box himself and remove his 
property. This will cause him the more surprise, that, befng 
able to open the boxes only one at a time, he will not be able 
to imagine, although aware that it is only a trick of sleight 
of hand, how, in so short a space of time, you were able to 
open and shut so many boxes. 

TO MAKE SQUIBS AND SERPENTS. 
First make the cases of about six inches in length, by roll- 
ing slips of stout cartridge paper three times around a roller, 
and pasting the last fold, tying it near the bottom as tight as 
possible, and making it air-tight at the end with sealing-wax. 
Then take of gunpowder half a pound, charcoal one ounce, 
brimstone one ounce, and steel filings half an ounce, or in 
like proportion; grind them with a muller or pound them in 
a mortar. Your cases being very dry and ready, first put a 
thimbleful of your powder, and ram it hard down with a 
ruler; then fill the case to the top with the aforesaid mixture, 
ramming it hard down in the course of filling two or three 
times; when this is done, point it with touch paper, which 
should be pasted on that part which touches the case, other- 
wise it is liable to drop off. 

TO MAKE CRACKERS. 
Cut some stout cartridge paper into pieces three inches and 
a half broad, and one foot long; fold down one edge of each 
of these pieces lengthwise, about three-quarters of an inch 
broad; then fold the double ed.2:e down a quarter of an inch, 
and turn the single edge back half over the double fold. 
Open it and lay all' along the channel which is formed by the 
folding of the paper some meal powder; then fold it over and 
over till the paper is doubled up, rubbing it down every turn ; 
this being done, bend it backwards and forwards two inchei^ 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGIOUN. 2T 

and a half or thereabouts, at a time, as often as the paper 
will allow. Hold all these folds flat and close, and with a 
small pmching cord give one turn around the middle of the 
cracker, and pinch it close ; bind it with pack-thread as tight 
as you can . then, in the place where it was pinched, prime 
one end, and cap it with touch paper. When these crackers 
are tired, they will give a report at every turn of the paper ; if 
you would have a great number of bounces you must cut the 
paper longer, or join them after they are made; but if they 
are made very long before they are pinched, you must have a 
piece of wood with a groove in it, deep enough to let in half 
the cracker; this will hold it straight while it is pinching. 

THE MANNER OF MAKING A RING CHANGE HANDS, 
AND PASS ON TO ANY FINGER YOU PLEASE OF 
THE OPPOSITE HAND. 

You will ask some one among the audience to lend you a 
gold ring, begging him, at the same time, to mark it, that he 
may be able to recognize it again. 

On your side you will take good care to have a gold ring, 
which you will fasten by a small piece of catgut to a watch- 
spring, sewed into the left-hand cuff of your coat. 

With the right hand take the ring that has been lent to you; 
then dexterously take hold of the ring, inside your cuff, at- 
tached to the watch-spring, and slip to the ends of the fingers 
of your left hand, unperceived by any one; during this opera- 
tion you will conceal the borrowed ring in the fingers of your 
right hand, and will put it on a hook fastened on your pants, 
near your hip, and concealed by your coat; then you will ex- 
hibit the ring you have had concealed in the left hand, and 
ask the company on what finger of the other hand they desire 
it to pass. 

While asking this question and receiving the answer, 5^ou 
put your finger on the little hook, and let the ring slip on it. 
at the same instant letting go the other ring by opening the 
fingers. The spring being no longer forcibly expanded, will 
contract and draw back the ring under the cuff, without its 
being perceived by any one, even those who may be holding 
your arms, who, being desirous only of preventing your hands 
from touching each other, will afford j^ou sufficient freedom 
for all the movements you require. These movements should 
be rapid, and always accompanied by a stamping of the 
foot. 

After this operation, you will exhibit to the company the 
ring which has found its way to the other hand, and prove to 
them by the mark on it that it is actually the same one. 

Much address, and great rapidity of movement are neces- 



28 HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 

sary in order to succeed in performing this amusing trick so 
that no one may suspect your imposition. 

TO BREAK A STICK PLACED ON TWO GLASSES 
WITHOUT BREAKING THE GLASSES. 

The sticlc intended to be broken must neither be thick nor 
rest with any great hold on the two glasses. Both its ex- 
tremities must taper to a point, and should be of as uniform 
a size as possible, in order that the center of gravity may be 
more easily known. The stick must be placed resting on the 
edges of the glasses, which ought to be perfectly level, that 
the stick may remain horizontal, and not inclined to one side 
more than another. Care also must be taken that the points 
only shall rest lightly on the edge of each glass. If a speedy 
and smart blow, but proportioned, as far as can be judged, 
to the size of the stick and the distance of the glasses, be then 
given to it in the middle, it will break in two, without either 
of the glasses being injured. 

MAGICAL TRANSMUTATIONS. 

Infuse a few shavings of logwood in common water, and 
when the liquor is sufficiently red pour it into a bottle. Theu 
take three drinking glasses, and rinse one of them with strong 
vinegar; throw into the second a small quantity of pounded 
alum, which will not be observed if the glass has been washed, 
and leave the third without any preparation. If the red liquor 
in the bottle be poured into the tirst glass, it will appear of a 
straw color ; if the second it will pass gradually from a bluish 
gray to black, when stirred with a key or any piece of iron, 
which has been previously dipped in strong vinegar. In the 
third glass, the red liquor will assume a violet tint. 

THE RING AND THE HANDKERCHIEF. 

Previously provide yourself with a piece of brass wire, 
pointed at both ends and bent round so as to form a rine; 
about the size of a wedding-ring, which conceal in your hand; 
then commence your performance by borrowing from a gen- 
tleman a silk pocket-handkerchief, and from a lady a wed- 
ding-rins:; request some person to hold two of the corners of 
the handkerchief, and another to hold the other two, keeping 
them at full stretch. You next exhibit the weddmg-ring to 
the company, and announce to them that you will make it 
pass throu2:h the handkerchief. Then place your hand under 
the handkerchief, and substituting the false ring which you 
had previously concealed, press it against the center of the 
handkerchief, and desire a third person to take hold of the 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 39 

under a glass, which you warm with your hands. At last, 
after an interval of a few seconds, you remove the handker- 
chief^to fold it; every one recognizes the mark, and the audi- 
ence are amazed not to find the slightest tear in it. 

This operation, which has produced so general a deception, 
is very simple. You have an understanding with some one m 
the company, who, having two handkerchiefs precisely sim- 
ilar, has already given one to the confederate behind the cur- 
tain and throws the other on the stage for the performance of 
the trick. You manage that this one shall lie at the top of the 
others, although pretending to mingle them by chance. The 
person to whom you apply to select one naturally takes the 
uppermost. You beg him to turn them topsy-turvy, pretend- 
ing to make the trick more difficult, and having done so your- 
self, to replace at the top the one required. You address some 
one more good-natured and less clear-sighted, who will natu- 
rally take the one most easily got at. 

When the handkerchief has been torn and folded, you put it 
under a glass, on a table, near a partition (or near the cur- 
tain). A small trap, beneath which is a drawer to receive the 
handkerchief, is on the spot on which you place the glass. 
The confederate, concealed behind the curtain, puts his arm 
under the table, to exchange the one handkerchief for the 
other. He then closes the trap, which, fitting exactly the hole 
it covers, only appears to be part of the table top, and thus 
deceives the most incredulous and clear-sighted of the specta- 
tors. 

A WATCH POUNDED IN A MORTAR. 

You request some one of the company to lend you a watch, 
and put it immediately into a mortar; a few moments after- 
wards *you cause it to be pounded, by another person, with a 
pestle; you exhibit the wheels, face,* mainspring, and drum- 
barrel broken and smashed; and finally, after a few minutes, 
you return the watch, whole aLd safe, to the proprietor, who 
recosrnizes it. 

After all that we have said, it will easily be perceived that 
the mortar must be placed near the trap in the table of which 
we spoke in the last trick, and covered with a napkin, in order 
that the confederate may substitute another watch. 

To produce a complete illusion in this case, you must take 
care to put in the mortar a second watch, the hands, works 
and case of which should, in some degree, resemble those of 
the borrowed one. And this is by no means difficult; for you 
can either have an understanding with the person lending the 
watch, or you may manage to ask the loan of some one whom 
you have seen elsewhere, and whose watch you may have had 
an opportunity of examining shortly before, with a view of 
procuring a similar one. 



40 HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 

After replacing the fragments in the mortar, cover them a 
second time with the napkin, and amuse the company with a 
riddle or conundrum, or by some other tricks, to give your 
partner time to collect all the bits, and replace the perfect 
watch in the mortar. 

TO MELT A PIECE OF MONEY IN A WALNUT SHELL, 
WITHOUT INJURING THE SHELL. 

Bend any thin coin, and put it into half a walnut shell; 
place the shell on a little sand to keep it steady. Then fill 
the shell with a mixture made of three parts of very dry 
pounded niter, one part of flowers of sulphur, and a little 
sawdust well sifted. If you then set a light to the mixture, 
you wiU find, when it is melted, that the metal will also be 
melted at the bottom of the shell, in the form of a button, 
which will become hard when the burning matter around it 
is consumed ; the shell will have sustained very little injury. 

THE HYDRAULIC DANCER. 

Procure a little figure of cork, which you may dress as 
your fancy dictates. In this figure place a small, hollow 
cone, made of thin leaf brass. 

When the figure is placed on a jet d'eau, that plays in a 
perpendicular direction, it will be suspended on the top of 
the water, and perform a great variety of amusing motions. 

If a hollow ball of very thin copper, of an inch in diameter, 
be placed on a similar jet, it will remain suspended, turning 
around, and spreading the water all about it. 

THE FIERY FOUNTAIN. 

If twenty grains of phosphorus, cut very small and mixed 
with forty grains of powder of zinc, be put into four drachms 
of water, and two drachms of concentrated sulphuric acid be 
added thereto, bubbles of inflamed phosphorated hydrogen 
gas will quickly cover the whole surface of the fluid in succes- 
sion, forming a real fountain of fire. 

A PERSON HAVING PUT A RING ON ONE OF HIS 
FINGERS, TO NAME THE PERSON, THE HAND, 
THE FINGER, AND THE JOINT ON WHICH IT IS 
PLACED. 

Let a third person double the number of the order in which 
he stands who has the ring, and add 5 to that number; then 
multiply that sum by 5, and to the product add 10. Let him 
next add 1 to the last number if the ring be on the right 
hand, and 2, if on the left, and multiply the whole by 10 ; to 
the product of this he must add the number of the finger 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 41 

(counting the thumb as the first finger), and multiply the 
whole again by 10. Let him then add the number of the 
joint, and, lastly, to the whole join 35. 

He is then to tell you the amount of the whole, from which 
you are to subtract 3,'535, and the remainder will consist of four 
figures, the first of which will express the rank in which the 
person stands ; the second the hand (number 1 signifying the 
right, and 2 the left) ; the third number the finger, and the 
fourth the joint. For example: 

Suppose the person who stands the third in order has put the 
ring upon the second joint of the thumb of his left hand, 
then: 

The double of the rank of the third person is 6 

To which add 5 

11 
Multiply the sum by 5 

To which add 10 

And the number of the left hand 2 

67 
Which being multiplied by 10 

"ero 
To which add the number of the thumb 1 

671 
And multiply again by 10 

6710 

Then add the number of the joint 2 

And lastly, the number 35 

6747 
From which deducting 3535 

The remainder is 3212 

Of which, as we have said, the 3 denotes the third person, 
the 2 the left hand, the 1 the thumb, and the last 2 the sec- 
ond joint. 

TO CONSTRUCT PAPER BALLOONS. 

Take several sheets of silk paper ; cut them in the shape of 
a spindle, or, to speak more familiarly, like the coverings of 
the sections of an orange; join these pieces together into one 
spherical or globular body, and border the aperture with a 
ribbon, leaving the ends that you may suspend from it the 
following lamp: 

Construct a small basket of very tine wire, if the balloon is 
small, and suspend it from the aperture, so that the smoke 



42 HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 

from tho flame of a few leaves of paper, wrapped together, 
and dipped in oil, may heat the inside of it. Before yon light 
this paper, suspend the balloon in such a manner that it may, 
in a great measure, be exhausted of air, and as soon as it has 
been dilated, let it go, together with the wire basket, which 
will serve as ballast 

THE MAGIC BOTTLE. 

Take a small bottle, the neck of which is not more than the 
sixth of an inch in diameter. With a funnel, fill the bottle 
quite full of red wine, and place it in a glass vessel, similar 
to a show-glass, whose height exceeds that of the bottle 
about two inches; fill this vessel with water. The wine will 
shortly come out of the bottle, and rise in the form of a small 
column to the surface of the water; while, at the same time, 
the water entering the bottle will supply the place of the 
wine. The reason of this is, that as water is specifically 
heavier than wine, it must hold the lower place, while the 
other rises to the top. 

An efi'ect equally pleasing will be produced if the bottle be 
filled with water and the vessel with wine. 

THE WINE TRICK. 

First, from the vessel which contains eight gallons, and is 
full of wine, let five gallons be poured in the empty vessel of 
five, and from this vessel so filled let three be poured into the 
empty vessel of three, so there will remain two gallons within 
the vessel of five. Then let three gallons, which are within 
the vessel of three be poured into the vessel of eight, which 
will now have six gallons within it ; that done, let the two 
gallons which are in the vessel of five be put into an empty 
vessel of three; then of the six gallons of wine which are with- 
in the vessel of eight, fill again the five, and from those five 
pour one gallon into the vessel of three, which wanted only one 
gallon to fill it, so there will remain exactly four gallons 
within the vessel of five, and four gallons within the other 
two vessels. This question may be resplved in another way, 
but I leave that as an exercise to the wit of 
readers. 

TO DISCOVER WHICH NUMBERS HAVE BEEN 
CHOSEN. 

Suppose you have propounded unto Peter and John two 
numbers, the one even and the other odd, as ten and nine, 
and that each of those persons is to choose one of the said 
numbers unknown to you. Now to discover which number 
each person shall have chosen, you must take two numbers, 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 43 

the one eveu and the other odd, as two and three; then bid 
Peter multiply that number which he shall have chosen by 
two, and cause John to multiply that number which he shall 
have chosen by three; that done, bid them add the two prod- 
ucts together, and let them make known the sum to you, or 
else demand of them whether the said sum be even or odd, or 
by any other way more secret endeavor to discover it, by bid- 
ding them to take the half of the said sum, for by knowing 
whether the said sum be even or odd, you do obtam the prin- 
cipal end to be aimed at; because if the said sura be an even 
number, then infallibly he that multiplied his number by your 
odd number (to wit: by three), did choose the even number 
(to wit; ten), but if the said number happen to be an odd 
number, then he whom 5^ou caused to multiply his number 
by your odd number (to wit: by three), did infallibly choose 
the odd number (to wit: nine). 

THE GLOBULAR FOUNTAIN. 

Make a hollow globe of copper or lead, and of a size 
adapted to the quantity of water that comes from a pipe 
(hereafter mentioned) to which it is to be fixed, and which 
may be fastened to any kind of pump, provided it be so con- 
structed that the water shall have no other means of escape 
than through the pipe. Pierce a number of small holes 
through the globe, that all tend toward its center, and annex 
it to the pipe that communicates with the pump. The water 
that comes from the pump, rushing with violence into the 
globe, will be forced out at the holes, and form a very pleas- 
ing sphere of water. 

THE WATER SUN. 

Provide two portions of a hollow sphere that are very shal- 
low; join them together in such a manner that the hollow be- 
tween them be very narrow. Fix them vertically to a pipe 
from whence a jet proceeds. Bore a number of small holes 
all around that part where the two pieces are joined together. 
The water rushing through the holes will form a very pleasing 
water sun or star. 

TO CAUSE A BRILLIANT EXPLOSION UNDER WATER. 

Drop a piece of phosphorus, the size of a pea, into a tum- 
bler of hot water: and, from a bladder furnished with a stop- 
cock, force a stream of oxygen directly upon it. This will 
afibrd a most brilliant combustion under water. 

THE MAGICAL MIRRORS. 

Make two holes in the wainscot of a room, each a foot high 
and ten inches wide, and about a foot distant from each other. 



44 HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 

Let these apertures be about the height of a man's head, and 
in each of them place a transparent glass in a frame, like a 
common mirror. 

Behind the partition, and directly facing each aperture, 
place two mirrors inclosed in the wainscot, in an angle 
of forty-five degrees. These mirrors are each to be eight- 
een inches squares, and all the space between must be inclosed 
with pasteboard painted black, and well closed that no light 
can enter; let there be also two curtains to cover them, which 
you may draw aside at pleasure. 

When a person looks into one of these fictitious mirrors, in- 
stead of seeing his own face, he will see the object that is in 
front of the other; thus, if two persons stand at the same time 
before these mirrors, instead of each seeing himself, they will 
reciprocally see each other. 

There should be a sconce with a lighted candle placed on 
each side of the two glasses in the wainscot, to enlighten the 
faces of the persons who look in them, or ihe experiment will 
not have so remarkable an eff'ect. 

TO MAKE LIQUID STEEL. 

Heat a piece of steel in the fire to redness ; take it, with one 
hand, out with a pair of pincers; then with the other hand, 
present a piece of stick sulphur to the steel ; as soon as they 
touch, you will perceive the steel flow like a liquid. 

TO CHANGE THE COLOR OF A BIRD OR FLOWER. 

To accomplish this metamorphosis, it is necessary to have 
earthen vases which have little edges or rims near their 
mouths, and should be of a size sufficiently large to hold sus- 
pended the bird or flower which you intend placing in them. 
You should likewise be provided with stoppers of cork, of a 
diameter equal to that of their mouths. To make an experi- 
ment upon some bird, it is necessary to commence by making 
a hole in the s^^opper sufficiently large to contain the neck of 
the bird without strangling it. This done, you divide the 
diameter of the stopperinto two equal parts, so as to facilitate 
the placing of it around the neck without doing injury to the 
bird. The two parts being brought together, you place at the 
bottom of the vase an ounce of quicklime, and beneath that a 
quarter of an ounce of sal ammoniac. When you perceive the 
efiervescence commence to'take place, you promptly insert the 
stopper, to which the bird is attached, leaving the neck out- 
side. The plumage of the body, exposed to this effervescent 
vapor, will become impregnated with the various colors pro- 
duced by this chemical combination. Remove the stopper 
and the bird, and you will perceive its feathers charged with 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 45 

divers shades. Two or three minutes serve to produce this 
effect, for you run the risk of stifling the bird, if exposed for 
any length of time to this vapor. In experimenting upon a 
flower, the hole in the stopper need only be large enough to 
hold the stem, which serves to suspend it in the air during the 
operation, which will be completed in one or two minutes. 

MAGIC PICTURES ALTERNATELY REPRESENTING 
SUMMER AND WINTER. 

Paint a landscape upon drawing-paper, coloring the earth, 
trunks of trees, hmbs, etc. , with their appropriate hues. But 
brush over the foliage, leaves, grass, etc., with the liquid 
hereafter described, and you will have a picture, at an ordi- 
nary temperature, utterly devoid of anything green. Heat it 
sufliciently, but not too much, and you will perceive the 
trees, leaves, and other foliage, assume a summer green, or 
rather that of early spring. 

The liquid used is a dissolution in aqua regia of zafler, 
which can be had at any druggist's — that is to say, the 
metallic earth of cobalt, which colors the zafl'er blue. You 
temper this dissolution, which is very caustic, with common 
water, and with it you color the foliage of the landscape. 
The design, when cold, is invisible; but exposed to heat, 
wherever it has been touched by this liquid, it becomes green. 

THE MAGIC FLASK. 
Take a glass bottle; put in it some volatile alkali, in which 
has been dissolved copper tilings, which will produce a blue 
color. Give this flask to some one to cork up, while indulg- 
ing in some pleasantry, and then call the attention of the 
company to the liquid, when, to their astonishment, they find 
that the color has disappeared as soon as it was corked. You 
can cause it to reappear by simply taking out the stopper, 
and this change will appear equally astonishing. 

SCRAP OR BLOWING BOOK. 
Take a book seven inches long, and about five inches broad, 
and let there be 49 leaves — that is, seven times seven con- 
tained therein, so as you may cut upon the edges of each leaf 
six notches, each in depth of a quarter of an inch, with a 
gouge made for that purpose, and let them be one inch dis- 
tant; paint every thirteenth or fourteenth page, which is the 
end of every sixth leaf and beginning of every seventh, with 
like colors or pictures; cut oft* with a pair of scissors every 
notch of the first leaf, leaving one inch of paper, which will 
remain half a quarter of an inch above that leaf; leave another 
like inch in the second part of the second leaf, clipping away 
an inch of paper in the highest place above it, and all notches 



46 HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 

below the same, and orderly to the third and fourth, and so 
there shall rest upon each leaf only one nicfe of paper above 
the rest, one high uncut, an inch of paper must answer to the 
first directly, so as when you have cut the first seven leaves 
in such a manner as described, you are to begin the selfsame 
order at the eighth leaf, descending the same manner to the 
cutting other seven leaves to twenty-one, until you have 
passed through every leaf all the thickness of your book. 

TO KEEP A STONE IN PERPETUAL MOTION. 

Put very small filino:s of iron into aquafortis, and let them 
remain there until the water takes off the iron requisite, 
which it will do in seven or eight hours. Then take the water 
and put it into a vial an inch wide, with a large mouth, and 
put in a stone of lapis calaminaris, and stop it up close; the 
stone will then keep in perpetual motion. 

HOW TO CUT A MAN^S HEAD OFF, AND PUT IT IN 
A PLATTER A YARD FROM HIS BODY. 

This is a curious performance, if it be handled by a skillful 
hand. To show this feat of execution, you must cause a 
board, a cloth, and a platter to be purposely made, and in 
each of them to be made holes fit for a person's neck; the 
board must be made of two planks, the longer and broader 
the better; there must be left within half a yard of the end of 
each plank half a hole, so as both planl^ being thrust 
together, there may remain two holes, like holes in a pair of 
stocks; there must be made likewise a hole in the cloth; a 
platter also must be set directly over or upon one of them, 
having a hole in the middle thereof, of the like quantity, and 
also a piece cut off the same, as big as his neck, through 
which his head may be conveyed into the middle of the plat- 
ter, and then sitting or kneeling under the board, let the head 
only remain upon the board, in the frame. Then, to make 
the sight more striking, put a little brimstone into a chafing 
dish of coals, setting it before the head of the boy, who must 
gasp two or three times, so as the smoke may enter his nos- 
trils and mouth, which is not unwholesome, and the head 
presently will appear stark dead, if the boy act his counte- 
nance accordingly ; and if a little blood be sprinkled on his face 
the sight will be stranger. This is commonly practiced with 
a boy instructed for that purpose, who, being familiar and 
conversant with company, may be known as well by his face 
as his apparel. In the other end of the table, where the like 
hole is made, another boy of the bigness of the known boy 
must be placed, having on his usual apparel ; he must lean 
or lie upon the board, and must put his head under it through 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAK. 4t 

the side hole, so as the body shall seem to lie on the end of 
the board, and his head lie in a platter on the other end. 
There are other things which might be performed in this 
action, the more to astonish the beholders, which, because 
they require long descriptions, are here omitted ; as to put 
about his neck a little dough kneaded with bullock's blood, 
which, being cold, will appear like dead flesh, and being 
pricked with a sharp round, hollow quill, will bleed and seem 
very strange; and many rules are to be observed herein, as 
to leave the table-cloth so long and so wide as it may alniQ^t 
reach the ground. 

ICE MADE IN A RED-HOT VESSEL, 

Take a platinum cup and heat it red-hot ; in it pour a 
small quantity of water; then the same quantity of sulphuric 
acid; a sudden evaporation will ensue; then invert the cup 
and a small mass of ice will drop out. The principle is this — 
sulphuric acid has the property of boiling water when it is at 
a temperature below the freezing point, and when poured in 
a heated vessel the suddenness of the evaporation occasions a 
degree of cold sufficient to freeze water. 

Liquid carbonic acid takes a high position for its freezing 
qualities. In drawing this curious liquid from its powerful 
reservoirs it evaporates so rapidly as to freeze, and it is then 
a light porous mass like snow. If a small quantity of this is 
drenched with ether the degree of cold produced is even 
more intolerable to the touch than boiling water. A drop or 
two of this mixture produces a blister, just as if the skin had 
been burned. It will freeze mercury in five to ten minutes. 

MAGICAL COLORS. 

Pat half a tablespoonful of syrup of violets and three 
tablespoonfuls of water into a glass, stir tLem well together 
with a stick, and put half the mixture into another glass. If 
you add a few drops of acid of vitriol into one" of the 
glasses, and stir it, it will be changed into a crimson. Put a 
few drops of mixed alkali dissolved into another glass, and 
wne^j you stir it it will change to green. If you drop slowly 
into the green liquor from the side of the glass a few drops of 
arid of vitriol you will perceive crimson at the bottom, pur- 
pie in the middle, and green at the top ; and by adding a little 
fixing alkali dissolved to the other glass, the same colors will 
appear in diflferent order. 

FREEZING WITH LIQUID. 
Ether poured upon a gl^s tube in a thin stream, will evap- 



48 HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 

orate and cool it to such a degree that water contained in it 
may be frozen. 

INVISIBLE INK. 

Dissolve green vitriol and a little nitrous acid in common 
water. Write your characters with a new pen. 

Next infuse small Aleppo galls, slightly bruised in water. 
In two or three days pour the liquor ott*. 

By drawing a pencil dipped in this second solution over the 
characters written with the first, they will appear a beautiful 
black. 

THE MAGICAL TEASPOON. 

Put into a crucible four ounces of bismuth, and when in a 
state of fusion throw in two ounces and a half of lead, and 
one ounce and a half of tin ; these metals will combine, form- 
ing an alloy, fusible in boiling water. Mold the alloy into 
bars, and take them to a silversmith's to be made into tea- 
-spoons. Give one to a stranger to stir his tea, as soon as it 
'is poured from the tea-pot ; he will be not a little surprised to 
find it melt in his tea-cup. 

INVISIBLE CORRESPONDENCE. 

Mix up some hog's lard very intimately with a little Venice 
turpentine, and rub a small portion of it gently and in an 
equal manner over thin paper, by means of a piece of fine 
sponge. When you are desirous to employ this preparation 
for writing secretly to a friend, lay the above paper on that 
you intend to dispatch, and trace out whatever you think 
proper with a blunted style, by which means the fat substance 
will adhere to the second paper in all those places the style 
has passed. The person who receives the letter may easily 
render it legible by sprinkling over it a little colored dust, 
or some pounded charcoal well sifted. 

BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENT FOR A ROOM. 

Dissolve in seven different tumblers, containing warm 
water, half ounces of sulphates of iron, copper, zinc, soda, 
alumine, magn*^sia, and potass. Pour them all, when com- 
pletely dissolved, into a large evaporating dish of Wedgwood 
ware, and stir the whole with a glass rod ; place the dish in a 
warm place, where it cannot be affected by dust, or where it 
may not be agitated. When due evaporation has taken place, 
the whole will begin to shoot out into crystals. These will 
be interspersed in small groups and single crystals among 
each other. Their color and peculiar form of crystallization 
will distinguish each crystal separately, and the whole to- 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 49 

gether, remaining in the respective places where they were 
deposited, will display a very, curious and pleasing appear- 
ance. Preserve it carefully from dust. 

TO MAKE FIRE BOTTLES, 
The phosphoric fire bottles may be prepared in the follow- 
ing manner: Take a small vial of very thin glass, heat it 
gradually in a ladleful of sand, and introduce into it a few 
grains of phosphorus; let the vial be then left undisturbed for 
a few minutes, and proceed in this manner till the vial is full. 
Another method of preparing this phosphoric bottle consists 
in heating two parts of phosphorus and one of lime, placed in 
layers, in a loosely stoppered vial for about half an hour ; or 
put a little phosphorus into a small vial, heat the vial in a 
ladleful of sand, and when the phosphorus is melted, turn it 
around, so that the phosphorus may adhere to the sides of the 
vial, and then cork it closely. To use this bottle, take a com- 
mon brimstone match, introduce its point into the bottle, so 
as to cause a minute quantity of its contents to adhere to it. 
If the match be rubbed on a common bottle cork, it will in- 
stantly take fire. Care should be taken not t,o use the same 
match a second time immediately, or while it is hot, as it 
would infallibly set fire to the phosphorus in the bottle. 



CURIOUS GAMES WITH CARDS. 

By which Fortunes are told in a singular and most diverting 

manner, 

LOVERS' HEARTS. 
Four young persons, but not more, may play at this game; 
or three, by making a dumb hand, or sleeping partner, as at 
whist. Play this game exactly the same in every game, mak- 
ing the queen, whom you call Venus above ace, the aces in 
this game only standing for one, and hearts must be first led 
ofl" by the person next the dealer. He or she who gets most 
tricks this way (each taking up their osvn, and no partner- 
ship) will have most lovers, and the king and queen of hearts 
in one hand shows matrimony at hand; but woe to the un- 
lucky one that gets no tricks at the deal, or does not hold a 
heart in their hand, they will be unfortunate in love, and long 
tarry before they marry. 

CUPID AND HYMEN. 

Three are enough for this game, the nines, the threes, and 
the aces; deal them equally; those who hold kings, hold 
friends; queens are rivals; knaves, shame; knave alone, 



60 HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 

lover ; three, surprises ; ace, sorrow ; two together, shows a 
child before marriage; if a king alone is in her hand with Iho 
aces, she stands a good chance; but if a queen is with him, 
she will never marry the father; the nine of hearts gives the 
wish that you have most at heart; the nine of diamonds, 
money; and the nine of clubs, a new gown or coat; but the 
nine of spades is sorrow. A queen and a knave in one hand, 
bids fair for a secret intrigue. 

HYMEN'S LOTTERY. 

Let each one present deposit any sum agreed on, but of 
course some trifle; put a complete pack of cards, well shuf- 
fled, in a bag or reticule. Let the party stand in a circle, 
and the bag being handed around, each draw three. Pairs of 
any are favorable omens of some good fortune about to occur 
to the party, and gets from the pool the sum back each 
agreed to pay. The king of hearts is here made the god of 
love, and claims double, and gives a faithful swain to the fair 
one who has the good fortune to draw him; if Venus, the 
queen of hearts, is with him, it is the conquering prize, and 
clears the pool ;,. fives and nines are reckoned crosses and 
misfortunes, and pay a forfeit of the sum agreed on to the 
pool, besides the usual stipend at each new game; three 
nines at one draw shows the lady will be an old maid ; three 
fives a bad husband. 

MATRIMONY. 

Let three, five or seven young women stana in a circle, and 
draw a card out of a bag; she who gets the highest card out, 
will be married first of the company, whether she be at the 
present time maid, wife, or widow; and she who has the low- 
est has the longest time to stay ere the sun shines on her 
wedding-day; she who draws the ace of spades will never 
bear the name of wife; and she who has the nine of hearts in 
this trial will have one lover too many to her sorrow. 

CUPID'S PASTIME. 

By this game you may amuse yourself and friends, and at 
the same time learn some curious particulars of your future 
fate; and though apparently a simple, yet it is a sure method, 
as several young persons have acknowledged to the sybil who 
first presented them with the rules. 

Several may play at the game, it requiring no number, on 
leaving out nine on their board, not exposed to view; each 
person puts a halfpenny in the pool, and the dealer double. 
The ace of diamonds is made principal, and takes all the other 
aces, etc., like Pamat Loo; twos and threes in your hand are 
luck; four, a continuance in your, present state; fives. 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIA:^. 51 

trouble; sixes, profit; sevens, plague; eight, disappoint- 
ments; nines, surprises; tens, settlement; knaves, sweet- 
hearts; kings and queens, friends and acquaintances; ace of 
spades, death; ace of clubs, a letter ; and the ace of diamonds, 
with the ten of hearts, marriage. 

The ace of diamonds being played first, or if it be not cut, 
the dealer calls for the queen of hearts, which takes next; if 
the ace be not cut, and the queen conquers, the person who 
played her will marry that year without a doubt, though it 
may perhaps seem unluckily at the time; but if she loses her 
queen, she must wait longer; the ace and queen being called, 
the rest go in rotation; as at whist, kings taking queens, 
queens knaves, and so on, and the more tricks you have, the 
more money you get off the board on the division of each 
game; those who hold the nine of spades will soon have some 
trouble, and they are also to pay a penny to the board; but 
the fortunate fair one who holds the queen and knave of 
hearts in the same hand will soon be married; or, if she is 
already within the pale of matrimony, she will have a great 
rise in life by means of her husband ; those who hold the ace 
of diamonds and queen of hearts, clear the money off the 
board, and end that game; it also betokens great pros- 
perity. 

DICE. 

This is a certain and innocent way of finding out common 
occurrences about to take place. Take three dice, shake 
them well in the box with your left hand, and then cast them 
out on a board or table, on which you had previously drawn a 
circle with chalk, but never throw on Monday or Wednesday. 

Three — a pleasing surprise. 

Four — a disagreeable one. 

Five—2i stranger who will prove a friend. 

Six — loss of property. 

Seven — undeserved scandal. 

Eight — merited reproach. 

Nine — a wedding. 

Ten — a christening, at which some important event will 
occur to you. 

Eleven— di death that concerns you. 

Twelve — a letter, speedily. 

Thirteen — tears and sighs. 

Fourteen — a new admirer. 

Fifteen — beware that you are not drawn into some trouble 
or plot. 

Sixteen — a pleasant journey. * 

Seventeen — you will either be on the water, or have deal- 
ing with those belonging to it, to your advantage. 



52 HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 

Eighteen'— d, great profit, rise in life, or some most desira- 
ble good will happen almost immediately; for the answers to 
the dice are always fulfilled within nine days. To show the 
same number twice at one trial, shows news from abroad, be 
the number what they may. If the dice roll over the circle, 
the number thrown goes for nothing, but the occurrence 
shows sharp words, and if they fall to the floor it is blows ; in 
throwing out the dice, if one remains on the top of the other, 
it is a present, of which I would have the females beware. 

DOMINOES. 

Lay them with their faces on the table, and shuflle them ; 
then draw one, and see the number. — N. B. Never play on a 
Friday. 

Double-six — receiving a handsome sum of money. 

Six-five — going to a public amusement. 

Six-four — law-suits. 

Six-three — ride in a coach. 

Six-two — present of clothing. 

Six-one— you will soon perform a friendly action. 

Six-blank — guard against scandal, or you will suffer by 
your inattention. 

Double-five — a new abode to your advantage. 

Five-four — a fortunate speculation. . 

Five-three— 2i visit from a superior. 

Five-two — a water-party. 

Five-one — a love intrigue. 

Five-blank — a funeral, but not of a relation. 

Double-four — drinking liquor at a distance. 

Four-three — a false alarm at your house. 

i<bwr-^M?o— beware of thieves or swindlers. — Ladies, take 
notice of this; it means more than it says. 

Four-one— tvowhlQ from creditors. 

Four-blank — receive a letter from an angry friend. 

Double-three — sudden wedding, at which you will be vexed. 

Three-two — buy no lottery tickets, nor enter into any game 
of chance, or you will lose. 

Three-one— 2i great discovery at hand. 

TJiree-blank — an illegitimate child. 

Double-two — you will be plagued by a jealous partner. 

Tivo-one—you. will mortgage or pledge some property very 
soon. 

Double-one — you will soon find something to your advan- 
tage in the street or road. 

Double-blank— the worst presage in all the set of dominoes; 
you will soon meet trouble from a quarter for which you are 
quite unprepared. 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 53 

It is useless for any person to draw more than three domi- 
noes at one time of trial, or in one and the same month, as 
they will only deceive themselves ; shuffle the dominoes each 
time of choosing; to draw the same dominoe twice makes 
the answer stronger. 

THE ART OF FORETELLING FUTURE EVENTS BY 
CHARMS, SPELLS, AND INCANTATIONS. 

Magic Laurel, 

Rise between three and four in the morning of your birth- 
day, with cautious secrecy, so as to be observed by no one, 
and pluck a sprig of laurel ; convey it to your chamber, and 
hold it over some lighted brimstone for live minutes, which 
you must carefully note by a watch or dial ; wrap it in a 
white linen cloth or napkin, together with your own name 
written on writing-paper, and that of the young man who 
addresses you (or if there is more than one, write all the 
names down) ; write also the day of the week, the date of the 
year, and the age of the moon ; then haste and bury it in the 
ground, where you will be sure it will not be disturbed for 
three days and three nights; then take it up and place 
the parcel under your pillow for three nights, and your 
dreams will be truly prophetic as to your destiny. 

The Three Keys. 

Purchase three small keys, each at a different place, and 
going to bed tie them together with your garter, and place 
them in your left hand glove, along with a small flat dough 
cake, on which you have pricked the first letters of your 
sweetheart's name; put them in your bosom when you retire 
to rest ; if you are to have that young man you will dream of 
him, but not else. 

This charm is the most eflectual on the first or third of a 
new moon. 

The Card Charm. 

Select all the hearts and diamonds from the pack, put them 
in one of your stockings, and place them under your pillow 
any Friday night; as soon as you wake on Saturday morning, 
provided the fourth hour has struck, not else, draw a card; 
according to the number of pips, so many years will elapse 
before you appear at the altar of Hymen. Hearts show a 
loving husband, diamonds the richest husband or wife ; the 
kings show that |you will never marry; the queen, a trouble- 
some rival; the knave of diamonds, a fatal seduction; and 
the knave of hearts, early widowhood. 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 



The Magic Ring. 

Borrow a wedding-ring, concealing tlie purpose for which 
you borrow it; but no widow's or pretended marriage will do, 
it spoils the charm ; wear it for three hours at least before 
you retire to rest, and then suspend it by a hair off your head 
over your pillow; write within a circle resembling a ring, 
the sentence from the matrimonial service, beginning with, 
with this ring I thee wed, and over the circle write your own 
name in full length, and the figures that stand for your age ; 
place it under your pillow, and your dream will fully explain 
who you are to marry, and what kind of a fate you will have 
with them. If your dream is too confused to remember it, or 
you do not dream at all, it is a certain sign you will never be 
a bride. 

The Witches' Chain. 

Let three young women join in making a long chain, about 
a yard will do, of Christmas juniper and mistletoe berries, and 
at the end of every link put an oak acorn. Exactly before 
midnight let them assemble in a room by themselves, where 
no one can disturb them ; leave a window open, and take the 
bey out of the key-hole and hang it over the chimney-piece; 
have a good tire and place in the midst of it a long, thinnish 
log of wood, well sprinkled with oil, salt and fresh mold, 
then wrap the cham around it, each maiden having an equal 
share in the business; then sit down, and on your left knee 
let each fair one have a prayer-book opened at the mat- 
rimonial service. Just as the last acorn is burnt, the future 
husband will cross the room; each one will see her own 
proper 'spouse; but he will be invisible to the rest of the 
wakeful virgins. Those that are not to wed will see a coffin, 
or some misshapen form, cross the room ; go to bed instantly 
and you will have remarkable dreams. This must be done 
either on a Wednesday or Friday night, but no other. 

The Nine Keys, 

Get nine small keys, they must all be your own by begging 
or purchase ^borrowing will not do, nor must you tell what 
you want them for); plait a three-plaited band of your own 
hair, and tie them together, fastening the ends with nine 
knots ; fasten them with one of your garters to your left wrist 
on going to bed, and bind the other garter round your head: 
then say : 

St. Peter take it not amiss, 

To try your favor I've done this; 

You are the ruler of the keys, 

Favor me then, if you please; 

Let me then your influence prove, 

And see my dear and wedded lovel 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 55 

This must be done on the eve of St. Teter's, and is an old 
charm used by the maidens of Rome in ancient time, who put 
great faith in it. 

The Mysterious Watch, 

Request any person to lend you his watch, and ask him if 
it will go when laid on the table. He will, no doubt, answer 
in the affirmative ;|in which case place it over the end of the 
concealed magnet, and it will presently stop. Then mark the 
precise spot where you placed the watch, and moving the 
point of the magnet, give the watch to another person, and 
desire him to make the expeximent; in which he not succeed- 
ing, give it to a third Cat the same time replacing the magnet), 
and he will immediately perform it, to the great chagrin of 
the second party. 

This experiment cannot be effected, unless you take the 
precaution to use a very strongly impregnated magnetic bar, 
and that the balance-wheel of the watch be of steel, which 
may be ascertained by previously opening it, and looking at 
the works. 

The Magic Rose, 

Gather your rose on the twenty-seventh of June, and let it 
be fullblown, and as bright a red as you can get; pluck it 
between the hours of three and four in the morning; take care 
to have no witness of the transaction ; convey it to your 
chamber and hold it over a chafing-dish or any convenient 
utensil for the purpose, in which there is charcoal and sulphur 
of brimstone; hold your rose over the smoke about five min- 
utes, and you will see it have a wonderful effect on the flower. 
Before the rose gets the least cool, put it in a sheet of writing- 
paper, on which is written your own name and that of the 
young man you love best; also the date of the year, and the 
name of the morning star that has the ascendancy at that 
time; fold it up and seal it neatly with three separate seals, 
then run and bury the parcel at the foot of the tree from which 
yon gathered the flower; here lei it remain untouched till the 
sixth of July; take it up at midnight, go to bed and place it 
under your pillow, and you will have a singular and most 
eventful dream before morning, or at least before your usual 
time of rising. You may keep the rose under you three nights 
without spoiling the charm ; when you have done with the 
rose and paper, be sure to burn them. 

Midsummei^-day Charm, to know your Husband's Trade, 
Exactly at twelve, on Midsummer-day, place a bowl of water 
in the sun, pour in some boiling pewter as the clock is strik- 
mg, saying thus: 



56 HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 

Here 1 try a potent spell, 
Queen of love, and Juno tell, 
In kind union unto me, 
What my husband is to be. 
This the day, and this the hour, 
When it seems you have the power, 
For to be a maiden's friend, 
So, good ladies, condescend. 

A tobacco-pipe full is enough. When the pewter is cold, 
take it out of the water, and drain it dry in a cloth, and you 
will find the emblems of your future husband's trade quite 
plain. If more than one you will marry twice; if confused 
and no emblems, you will never marry; a coach shows a 
gentleman for you. 

St. Agnes' Day. — Charm to know who your husband shall he. 

Falls on the 21st of January; you must prepare yourself by 
a twenty-four hour' fast, touching nothing but pure spring 
water, beginning at midnight on the 20th, ^o the same again 
on the 21st; then go to bed, and mind you sleep by yourself, 
and do not mention what you are trying to any one, or it will 
break the spell ; go to rest on your left side, and repeat these 
lines three times — 

St. Agnes be a friend to me, 

In the gift I ask of thee; 

Let me this night my husband see— 

and you will dream of your future spouse; if you see more 
than one in your dream, you will wed two or three times, but 
if you sleep and dream not, you will never marry. 



Events Foretold by Planets. 

JANUARY. — Aquarius, or the Water -hearer. 

About the twentieth of the month the sun enters this sign : 
a man born at this period will be of an unruly, restless, 
fickle, and boisterous disposition; will be given to all whims 
and strange fancies; will undertake anything, however dif- 
ficult, to accomplish any object he may have in view; not 
contented long in one place; soon aflronted— slow to forgive; 
suspicious and always imagining danger, and, instead of en- 
deavoring to subdue trouble, meeting it half way. In life he 
will be moderately successful, and enjoy a portion of happi- 
ness. In love he will display an amorous disposition, and be 
passionately attached to his mistress, until she yields to his 
wishes, or marries him; he will then grow indifierent, and 
rove until some other object fixes his attention. 

A woman born at this time will be of a studious, Indus- 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 57 

trious, and sedentary disposition — will be much attached to 
the employment she is brought up to ; in love she will be con- 
stant and moderate — she will make a kind and tender mother, 
and an aflectionate wife. 

FEBRUARY.— P/5ce5, or the Fishes. 

About the twentieth of the month the sun enters this sign : 
a man born at this time will be designing, intriguing, selfish, 
unfaithful to his engagement; he will be mean, and subserv- 
ient to those whom he thinks he can make useful to his 
schemes ; but his end once obtained, he will take every oppor- 
tunity to injure and betray them: in poverty he will be a 
sycophant, in prosperity a tyrant— haughty to equals and in- 
feriors. In life he will generally be unsuccessful, although 
for a time he will often appear to have succeeded; in love he 
will be careless, indifl'erent, and unsteady — he will make a 
severe father and an unkind husband. 

A woman born at the same period will be of obliging 
manners, delicate in her ideas, open and sincere in her friend- 
ships, an enemy to deceit — in love she will be faithful, and 
moderately inclined to the joj^s of Yenus; she will be aflec- 
tionate to her family; make a good and tender mother, and 
be a prosperous and excellent wife. 

MARCH. —ArieSy or the Bam, 

About the twentieth of the month the sun enters this sign : a 
man born at this period will be of a bashful, meek, and irreso- 
lute disposition, hard to provoke to a quarrel, but difficult to 
be appeased when roused ; in life he will be for the most part 
happy and contented— in love he will be faithful and constant, 
moderately addicted to its pleasures — he will be a kind, affec- 
tionate father, a good husband, a sincere friend, and of an 
industrious turn. 

A woman born at the same time will be modest, chaste, 
good-tempered, cleanly in her habits, industrious, and chari- 
table -in love she will be faithful, and in life she will be rather 
happy than otherwise, but be little concerned about worldly 
affairs — she will make an amiable mother, be decently fond of 
her husband, and moderately given to the joys of Hymen. 

APRIL. — Taurus, or the Bull. 

About the twentieth of the month the sun enters this sign: 
a man born at this time will be of a strong and robust consti- 
tution, faithful to his engagements, industrious, sober, and 
honest, but prone to anger — in life he will be ardent in his 
pursuits, but will meet with many vexations and disappoint- 



58 HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 

ments— in love he will be extremely amorous, much given to 
women, of a jealous disposition, liable to infidelity to the mar- 
riage bed, but on the whole a good husband and a kind 
father — he will be extremely desirous of roving in the world, 
and establishing a reputation. 

A woman born at this period will be of a courageous and 
resolute disposition, of an industrious^ turn, impatient of con- 
trol, desirous of praise, and not easil5^ daunted, fond of domes- 
tic life, much attached to those pleasures that are consistent 
with virtue, fond of her husband, indulgent to her children, 
and a sincere friend, and liberal benefactress— she will be 
happy in the connubial state, and pass her time with much 
satisfaction. 

MAY. — Gemini^ or the Twins, 

About the twentieth of the month the sun enters this sign: 
a man born at this period will be of an undaunted courage, 
of a sweet and cheerful temper, of a lively imagination, stern 
in his resentments, though not easily provoked— he will be 
very ambitious of distinguishing himself for his learning and 
his knowledge of his profession or trade— in life he will be in- 
cUned to traveling, especially in foreign countries — he will 
meet with many crosses, and much persecution, but will bear 
them all with manly fortitude, and great patience— he will be 
immoderately attached to women, placing all his happiness 
in their arms— he will make a good father, but an unfaithful 
husband. 

A woman born at this period will be of a peevish and fret- 
ful temper— she will be vindictive and revengeful, not very 
industrious, but inclined to neatness in dress and in her 
house — in love she will be credulous and jealous, much in- 
clined to the pleasures of the marriage bed — in life she will 
meet with many disagreeable interruptions to her peace of 
mind, but be of a generous disposition, kind to her children, 
affectionate to her husband, and liberal to her dependents. 

JUNE. — Cancer, or the Crab, 

About the twentieth of the month the sun enters this sign : 
a man born at this period will be of an industrious and sober 
disposition, diffident of his own abilities, not easily excited to 
mirth, firm and inflexible in his determinations — in life, he 
will be faithful to bis engagements, successful in his pursuits, 
and kind to his fellow-creatures— in love he will be sincere, 
moderately inclined to the joys of Hymen, faithful to the 
nuptial bed, a tender father, and a kind husband. 

A woman born at this time will be of a captious temper, 
inclined to industry, and fond of merriment and good cheer — 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 59 

in life she will be persevering in her undertakings, tenacious 
of her own opinion, but without provoking obstinacy she 
will be much inclined to the pleasures of love in a lawful man- 
ner, will make a good wife and an affectionate mother, and 
enjoy a reasonable share of happiness and tranqiiiliity. 

JULY. — Leo, or the Lion, 

About the twentieth of the month the sun enters this sign: 
a man born at this period will be of an unruly, turbulent, 
rapacious, and quarrelsome disposition, always inclined to 
dispute with his neighbors, and enter into law-suits — in life he 
will be forever scheming, without accomplishing his ends; he 
will be troublesome to others and to himself, and for the most 
part be unhappy— in love he will be indifferent, making it a 
secondary consideration— he will be unfaithful whenever his 
interests so dictate— he will make a morose husband, and a 
negligent father. 

A woman born at this time will be of an abusive and quar- 
relsome disposition, indolent and peevish in her temper, fond 
of calumniating her neighbors— she will be little inclined to 
the pleasures of love, be a very indifferent mother, and a slut- 
tish wife— in life she will be perpetually in scrapes, and be for 
the most part unhappy herself by endeavoring to make 
others so. 

AUGUST. — Fzr^o, or the Virgin, 

About the twentieth of the month the sun enters this sign: 
a man born at this period will be of rather a timid disposition, 
though not cowardly— he will be honest and sincere in his 
dealings, much reserved in conversation, cautious in his un- 
dertakings, good-tempered and mild, gentle in his behavior 
and sober in his conduct — in life he will be tolerably happy 
and moderately successful— in love he will be much inclined 
to lawless pleasures, yet affectionate to his wife — he will make 
a good father and a tender husband. 

A woman born at this time will be of a very honest, sin- 
cere, and candid disposition, much inclined to cleanliness in 
her person, of warm desires, modest speech, fond of connulial 
joys, and faithful to her husband— she will make a good 
mother and an industrious wife. 

SEPTEMBER.— Xi6ra, or the Balance, 

About the twentieth of the month the sun enters this sign: 
a man born at this period will be of an honest, sober, and up- 
right disposition, faithful and just in his dealings, a great 
lover of truth, and an enemy to quarrels and disturbances — 
in life he will be highly respected, whatever may be his situa- 



60 HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 

tion, rich or poor — if he arrives at honors and places of con- 
sequence, he will still retain a veneration for his old friends, 
protect them to the utmost of his power, and conduct himself 
with temper and moderation— in love he will be no enemy to 
the pleasures of wedlock, but make an affectionate husband 
and a kind father. 

A woman born at this time will be of a prudent, modest, and 
virtuous disposition, dignified in her manners, affable and 
agreeable in her conversation, generous in her lemper, in life 
she will be very happy — in the business of love she will only 
consider it as a duty in obedience to her husband, and will 
make an obedient and complying wife, and a careful and at- 
tentive mother. 

OCTOBER. — Scorpio, or the Scorpion. 

About the twentieth of the month the sun enters this sign: 
a man born at this period will be of an amiable and socialjdis- 
position, of a lively imagination, prudent in his conduct, and 
agreeable in his manners. In life he will be subject to many 
cruel and severe hardships, he will have many enemies, be 
suspected of plots and conspiracies against the state; he will 
be persecuted and calumniated, but by the interposition of 
friends he will be raised by his merits, in the end triumph 
over his enemies, and be extricated from his difficulties. In 
love he will be faithful and sincere, much addicted to the de- 
lights of the connubial state, but obliged to make his passions 
yield to his other concerns in life; he will be a fond father and 
an affectionate husband. 

A woman born at this time will be of a rash, imperious, in- 
triguing, and designing disposition, of an unsteady and 
disagreeable temper, and inclined to liquor. In life her 
schemes will generally miscarry through her own folly and 
want of conduct. In love she will yield' to its pleasures only 
with a view to serve her purpose, and she will be fickle and 
unfaithful— make a bad wife, savage mother, and be the cause 
of her family's unhappiness. 

^OYWAB^^.— Sagittarius, or the Archer, 

About the twentieth of the month the sun enters this sign: 
a man born at this period will be of a cold, phlegmatic dispo- 
sition, of little sensibility, furious when in a passion, implaca- 
ble in his resentments, punctual in his dealings. In life he 
will be generally successful, easily led by others, and fre- 
quently deceived. In love he will be moderate in his passions, 
caressing his wife merely for the sake of getting children, to 
whom he will make an excellent father, but will be a morose 
and tyrannical husband. 



HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN. 61 

A woman born at this time will be of a masculine disposi- 
tion, much^addicted to caluminate others, and spreading scan- 
dalous reports of those she does not lik«; in her behavior 
she will be imperious and disagreeable, a great scold, and in- 
clined to strong liquors and quarrehng. In life she will make 
many enemies by her want of conduct and little regard to 
what she says, be rather unhappy and unsuccessful in her 
pursuits. In love she will be constant, but expect to govern 
her husband — she will expect him to do strict justice to the 
marriage bed, to the pleasures of which she will be immoder- 
ately attached; she will love her children, but be negligent of 
them; she will be fond of her husband, whilst he gives her her 
own way, and strictly performs the marriage rites; but if 
they are neglected, she will lead him a wearisome life, and 
prove unfaithful. 

DECEMBER.— Capricorn J or the Horned Goat 

About the twentieth of the month the sun enters this sign : 
a man born at this time will be of an ambitious, turbulent, 
and restless disposition, troublesome to himself and others, 
of a dull and lazy habit, void of reflection, and of unpleasant 
manners. In life he will be unhappy and unfortunate, owing 
to his own rashness and want of consideration. In love he 
will be exceedingly amorous, much attached to the female 
sex, rather fickle in his affections, but kind and loving to his 
wife, punctual in the discharge of the nuptial duties; he will 
make a bad father, but a good husband. 

A woman born at this time will be of a meek, sober, and 
amiable disposition, a good neighbor, and a sincere friend, 
fearful and timorous, but of engaging manners. In life she 
will be rather happy than otherwise, and easily restrained 
from doing wrong. In love she will be of a warm constitu- 
tion, and yield easily to the solicitations of her lovers; in the 
married state she will be faithful and kind, strongly attached 
to the hj^menial duties, and forward in exacting them of her 
husband ; she will be a tender mother and a good wife, though 
extremely credulous of everything she hears. 

[THE END.] 

HOW TO BECOME A SPEAKEB.— Containing fourteen illus- 
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a good speaker, reader and elocutionist. Also containing 
gems from all the popular authors of prose and poetry, ar- 
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467 The Brother's Crime 

468 Molly Bland, the Detective 

469 The James Boys in California 

470 Tumbling Tim— comic 

471 Mat of the Mountain 

472 The Picador of Chapultepec 

473 The Lost Island 

474 The James Boys as Train 

W^reckers 

475 The Maxwell Brothers 

476 Stuttering Sam— co?nic 

477 The Mad Hunter 

478 Persimmon Bill 

479 The James Boys in Minnesota 

480 Buck Bid well 

481 Toby the Spy 

482 The James Boys as Highway- 

men 

483 Denver Dan in New York, by 

''Noname" 

484 Tommy Bounce, Jr., a Chip of 

the Old Block, by ''Peter 
Pad.'' Illustrated— comic 

485 Washed Ashore; or, Adven- 

tures in a Strange Land 

486 Charlie Chubbs at College 

487 The Irish Claude Duval 

488 The James Boys' Longest 

Cliase 

489 Fair- Weather Jack; or, Life in 

the Arctic Regions 

490 The James Boys in Mexico 

491 Old Fox; or, The Mystery of a 

Trunk 

492 The James Boys at Cracker 

Neck 

493 Silvershot 

494 The Silent Slaver 

495 Tbe Irish Claude Duval as a 

Rebel 

496 Astray in the Clouds 



497 The Shortys Married and Set- 

tled Down— comic 

498 The Tree of Death 

499 The Twin Detectives; or, True 

to Each Other 

500 WiUiam Tell, the Dead Shot of 

the West 

501 Trapper Duke 

502 Leon the Outlaw 

603 Tommy Bounce, Jr., in Col- 
lege— co?Hic 

504 Around the World 

505 Out with the Jeannette 

506 Captain Tom Drake 

507 Fred Ford 

508 Billy Bak kus— cj7nfc 

509 Bow and Arrow Jack 

510 Arctic Phil 

511 Fred Baxter 

512 The Brookfield Bank Robbers 

513 The Border Bandits 

514 The James Boys and Timber- 

lake 

515 Fighting Joe 

516 Invincible Bill 

517 Skeleton Guich 

518 The Irish Claude Duval as a 

Privateer 

519 The Wolverine 

520 Ben Bolt 

521 The James Boys in Court 

522 Bob Rollick; or. What Was He 

Born For 'i— comic 

523 Northwoods Tom, by Kit Clyde 

524 Only a Cabin Boy, by Harry 

Rockwood 

525 Astray in Africa, by Walter 

Fenton 

526 Tiger Ted, by Alexander Arm- 

strong 

527 The James Boys' Cave, by D. 

W. Stevens 



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published from the pens of our most popular and interesting authors. 
These Libraries contain thirty-two pages, and each number is com- 
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The following is a list of the latest numbers published of the Boys of 
New York Pocket Library: 

75 AMONG THE THUGS ; OR, Two YANKEE BOYS IN INDIA 

By Hal Standish 

76 LIFE AND DEATH OF JESSE JAMES By D. W. Stevens 

77 THE BLACK BRAVOS By Gaston Game 

78 EBONY EPH, THE COLORED DETECTIVE. By Harry Rockwood 

79 THE BOSS OF THE SCHOOL; OR, Around The World Fob Fun 

By Captain Will Dayton 

80 THE MAGIC RIFLE By C. Little 

81 FRANK JAMES, T HE AVENGER By D. W. Stevens 

82 THE RENEGADE'S DOOM By John Sherman 

83 THE SECRETS OF THE DIAMOND ISLAND 

By Horace Appleton 

84 THE LEAGUE OF FATE By "Noname" 

85 SIMPLE SILAS AMONG THE MOONSHINERS 

By Harry Rockwood 

86 THE THUGS OF NEW ORLEANS By Paul Braddon 

87 LIVES OF THE FORD BOYS By D. W. Stevens 

88 DANGER SIGNAL DAVE By Albert J. Booth 

89 THE FIENDS OF PARIS By Paul Braddon 

90 THE ISLAND CAPTIVE By John Sherman 

91 THE BLACK BAND OF NEW YORK By Paul Braddon 

92 LOST UNDER GROUND By Horace Appleton 

93 THE CRIMSON COWL By C. Little 

94 FOXY AND BROTHER^. By Police Captain Howard 

95 TRACKED BY A FIEND J. R. Scott 

96 No. 202; OR, IN LEAGUE WITH THE SECRET SERVICE 

By Lieut. E. H. Kellogg 

97 ICEBERG JACK, THE HERO OF THE ARCTIC. .By R. T. Emmet 

98 DETECTIVE SLEUTH'S SON By Police Captain Howard 

99 THE SECRET DEN By Don Jenardo 

100 DICK DARNLEY. THE SWITCH BOY By Robert Lennox 

101 THE CAVERN OF DEATH By Gaston Game 

102 JEPPO THE HUNCHBACK By C. Little 

103 IN THE CLOUDS WITH A MANIAC By John Sherman 

104 A COUNTRY BOY DETECTIVE By Lieut. E. H. Kellogg 



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